{
  "abstract": "Proton transfer mechanism along water hydrogen bond network lies in the fundamental question in chemical dynamics. The mechanism remains challenge due to nuclear quantization and many-body correlation. We develop a quantum dynamical model framework that treats electrons and multiple transferring protons on equal footing, and integrate it with isotope measurement by scanning tunneling microscopy of a surface‑bound water tetramer. The simulations reveal the importance of quantum correlation among stepwise electron–proton intermediate states, which quantum coherently drives a synchronized, concerted four‑proton switch between two chiral hydrogen‑bond configurations. Populations periodically decay from one chiral arrangement and reappear in the other, whose oscillation amplitude is strongly suppressed by modest symmetry breaking from isotopic substitution. This mechanism accounts for an anomalous isotope trend experimentally in which the low‑symmetry, singly deuterated tetramer (H2O)3(D2O) switches as slowly as the high‑symmetry, fully deuterated (D2O)4 that eludes semiclassical tunneling kinetics. The framework establishes a practical route to study multi-proton quantum correlation in hydrogen-bond networks on surfaces.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics",
    "Peking University",
    "Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics",
    "Chinese Academy of Sciences",
    "School of Physical Sciences",
    "University of Chinese Academy of Sciences",
    "Key Laboratory of Material Physics, Ministry of Education, School of Physics",
    "Zhengzhou University",
    "Interdisciplinary Institute of Light-Element Quantum Materials and Research Centre for Light-Element Advanced Materials",
    "Tsientang Institute for Advanced Study",
    "Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 8,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Luhao Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3,
        4,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Cui Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3,
        4,
        5,
        6,
        7
      ],
      "name": "Yimin Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3,
        4,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Shengjie Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        8,
        9
      ],
      "name": "Ying Jiang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        8
      ],
      "name": "Xinzheng Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3,
        4,
        5,
        10
      ],
      "name": "Sheng Meng"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2,
        3,
        8,
        9
      ],
      "name": "Enge Wang"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bk6cxzhy6apwf.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15010506/v1",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "bk6cxzhy6apwf",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010506/v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "3107|Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222014146",
  "pdf_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/pdf/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010506/v1",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-15",
  "publisher": "American Chemical Society (ACS)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bk6cxzhy6apwf.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:24Z",
      "native_id": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15010506",
      "source": "chemrxiv",
      "url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010506/v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "openalex:3107|Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies",
      "subfield": "amo"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Quantum-Entangled Four-Proton Waltz of Anomalous Transport in Water Hydrogen Bond Network",
  "title_text": "Quantum-Entangled Four-Proton Waltz of Anomalous Transport in Water Hydrogen Bond Network",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:24Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bk6cxzhy6apwf",
  "venue": "ChemRxiv",
  "versions": []
}