Two-vibron bound states in alpha-helix proteins: the interplay between the intramolecular anharmonicity and the
1Laboratoire de Physique Moléculaire, UMR CNRS 6624, Faculté des Sciences, La Boúloie, Université de Franche-Comté, 25030 Besançon Cedex, France.
Abstract:
The influence of the intramolecular anharmonicity and the strong vibron-phonon coupling on the two-vibron dynamics in an alpha-helix protein is studied within a modified Davydov model. The intramolecular anharmonicity of each amide-I vibration is considered, and the vibron dynamics is described according to the small polaron approach. A unitary transformation is performed to remove the intramolecular anharmonicity, and a modified Lang-Firsov transformation is applied to renormalize the vibron-phonon interaction. Then a mean field procedure is realized to obtain the dressed anharmonic vibron Hamiltonian. It is shown that the anharmonicity modifies the vibron-phonon interaction, which results in an enhancement of the dressing effect. In addition, both the anharmonicity and the dressing favor the occurrence of two different bound states whose properties strongly depend on the interplay between the anharmonicity and the dressing. This dependence was summarized in a phase diagram which characterizes the number and the nature of the bound states as a function of the relevant parameters of the problem. For a significant anharmonicity, the low-frequency bound states describe two vibrons trapped onto the same amide-I vibration, whereas the high-frequency bound states refer to the trapping of the two vibrons onto nearest neighbor amide-I vibrations.
Related Concept Videos
Spin–Spin Coupling: Three-Bond Coupling (Vicinal Coupling)
The extent of coupling depends on the C‑C bond length, the two H‑C‑C angles, any electron-withdrawing substituents, and the dihedral angle between the involved orbitals. The...
Spin–Spin Coupling Constant: Overview
Qualitatively, any spin plus-half nucleus polarizes the spins of its electrons to the minus-half state. Consequently, the paired electron in the hydrogen–carbon bond must have a...
Spin–Spin Coupling: One-Bond Coupling
¹H NMR: Long-Range Coupling
In alkenes, spin information is communicated via σ–π overlap, as seen in allylic (four-bond) and homoallylic (five-bond) couplings. These coupling interactions are stronger when the σ bond is parallel to the alkene π orbitals.
IR Spectroscopy: Hooke's Law Approximation of Molecular Vibration
According to Hooke's law, the vibrational frequency is directly proportional to the...
Spin–Spin Coupling: Two-Bond Coupling (Geminal Coupling)
The central atom need not be NMR-active because its electrons are affected by the electron polarization of the spin-active atoms. However, spin information is transmitted less effectively than in one-bond coupling, and 2J values are usually weaker than 1J values. The energy of...


