Long-Distance Quantum Transport Dynamics in Macromolecules

Abstract

Using renormalization group methods, we develop a rigorous coarse-grained representation of the dissipative dynamics of quantum excitations propagating inside open macromolecular systems. We show that, at very low spatial resolution, this quantum transport theory reduces to a modified Brownian process, in which quantum delocalization effects are accounted for by means of an effective term in the Onsager-Machlup functional. Using this formulation, we derive a simple analytic solution for the time-dependent probability of observing the quantum excitation at a given point in the macromolecule. This formula can be used to predict the migration of natural or charged quantum excitations in a variety of molecular systems including biological and organic polymers, organic crystalline transistors or photosynthetic complexes. For illustration purpose, we apply this method to investigate intelastic electornic hole transport in a long homo-DNA chain.