How super-localization affects vibrational energy exchange process in proteins

Abstract

Recent experimental findings on a protein have shown the diffusion of vibrational energy occurs prevalently along non-bonded contacts instead through the backbone interaction, as it might be expected. These results are explained presenting a theoretical picture, supported by computational calculations, that accounts for these different behaviors in vibrational energy exchange process showing the collective motions on the backbone present a “superlocalized” nature as their asymptotic decay with the distance r is proportional to e−rdwith d∼1.8, whereas collective motions associated to non-bonded contacts result simply localized, i.e. d∼1.