Eur. Phys. J. D 51, 193-204 (2009)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2009-00005-1

The environment-induced-superselection model of the large-molecules conformational stability and transitions

Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Višegradska 33, 18000 Niš, Serbia

Corresponding author: ^a jjeknic@pmf.ni.ac.yu

Received: 18 September 2008
Revised: 28 October 2008
Published online: 16 January 2009

Abstract

The large molecules lie in the “border territory" between the “quantum" and the “classical". To which extent one should employ the classical or quantum-mechanical methods in describing their behavior is an open issue. To this end, the problem of the large-molecules conformational stability and transitions is typical. While the small or medium-size molecules are successfully described by the quantum mechanical methods, the large-molecules conformational transitions are usually investigated classically. However, the problem of the origin of stability of the large-molecules conformations remains open. In this paper, we offer a solution-in-principle for both the large-molecules conformational stability and transitions yet in the context of the quantum decoherence theory. Actually, we apply the “environment-induced superselection rules" theory that naturally answers both of the problems, and, in a sense, offers a unifying picture for the molecules in a solution. Generality of our approach stems from the generality of the decoherence theory. So, our approach is a qualitative theoretical program alternating the point of view to the large-molecules dynamics: while ultimately being the quantum-mechanical systems, the large molecules in a solution may still exhibit the (approximately) classical behavior of their conformational degrees of freedom.