Olfaction: a molecular switch

I will briefly discuss a model of vibrationally assisted electron transport in olfaction.

We investigate exciton / electron transport in a two site system interacting with bosonic environment(s), which can be considered a molecular switch. We look at various regimes and analyze conditions under which the switch can be selective. We verify under which assumptions and conditions selective dissipation into a specific mode can help to understand selectivity of the olfactory receptors. We use spin-boson Hamiltonian and polaron transformation formalism to model electron transport in olfaction and investigate its dynamics. 

 

Some references of the related work:

J. C. Brookes et al. PRL 98, 038101 (2007),

I. A. Solov’yov et al. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2012, 14, 13861