On the calculation of quantum mechanical electron transfer rates

We present a simple interpolation formula for the rate of an electron transfer reaction as a function of the electronic coupling strength. The formula only requires the calculation of Fermi golden rule and Born-Oppenheimer rates and so can be combined with any methods that are able to calculate these rates. We first demonstrate the accuracy of the formula by applying it to a one dimensional scattering problem for which the exact quantum mechanical, Fermi golden rule, and Born-Oppenheimer rates are readily calculated. We then describe how the formula can be combined with the Wolynes theory approximation to the golden rule rate, and the ring polymer molecular dynamics (RPMD) approximation to the Born-Oppenheimer rate, and used to capture the effects of nuclear tunneling, zero point energy, and solvent friction on condensed phase electron transfer reactions. Comparison with exact hierarchical equations of motion results for a demanding set of spin-boson models shows that the interpolation formula has an error comparable to that of RPMD rate theory in the adiabatic limit, and that of Wolynes theory in the nonadiabatic limit, and is therefore as accurate as any method could possibly be that attempts to generalize these methods to arbitrary electronic coupling strengths.