Quantum Thermodynamics of Electron Transport along Chains of Redox Centers
Abstract
Intramolecular electron transport in biological systems is typically described as a diffusive hopping process, according to the semi-classical rate theories of Marcus and Hopfield combined with classical Pauli-type master equations. However, the possibility that non-trivial quantum mechanical effects could play a functional role in the transport dynamics in certain biomolecular processes has attracted increasing attention. Here, we extend the quantum mechanical model of open system dynamics by the Lindblad equation to a key biological component, the long chains of redox centers based on iron-sulfur clusters or heme groups that are widespread in many biological organisms, where they realize the cellular respiration. This approach allows to explore a wide range of physical parameters, showing key features of electron transport in these multi-domain protein structures. We pay particular attention to heat and entropy transfer between the electrons and the protein bath, which constitutes a benchmark of physical realism for the models. Electron currents, average transfer times and relative efficiency of the transport process are also explicitly characterized.
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BibTeX
@misc{cleri2026quantum,
title = {{Quantum Thermodynamics of Electron Transport along Chains of Redox Centers}},
author = {Fabrizio Cleri and Ralf Blossey and Stefano Giordano},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2607.09728},
eprint = {2607.09728},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.09728},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Quantum Thermodynamics of Electron Transport along Chains of Redox Centers
AU - Fabrizio Cleri
AU - Ralf Blossey
AU - Stefano Giordano
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/25
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2607.09728
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.09728
AB - Intramolecular electron transport in biological systems is typically described as a diffusive hopping process, according to the semi-classical rate theories of Marcus and Hopfield combined with classical Pauli-type master equations. However, the possibility that non-trivial quantum mechanical effects could play a functional role in the transport dynamics in certain biomolecular processes has attracted increasing attention. Here, we extend the quantum mechanical model of open system dynamics by the Lindblad equation to a key biological component, the long chains of redox centers based on iron-sulfur clusters or heme groups that are widespread in many biological organisms, where they realize the cellular respiration. This approach allows to explore a wide range of physical parameters, showing key features of electron transport in these multi-domain protein structures. We pay particular attention to heat and entropy transfer between the electrons and the protein bath, which constitutes a benchmark of physical realism for the models. Electron currents, average transfer times and relative efficiency of the transport process are also explicitly characterized.
ER -