Tunnel effect theory vibrational mode coupling

Let us assume that a variable A(t) is coupled to the reaction coordinate and that (A) is its mean value. If a measurement of some property P depends on (A), but not on the particular details of the time dependence of A(t), then we will call it a statistical dependence. If the property P depends on particular details of the dynamics of A(t) we will call it a dynamical dependence. Note that in this definition it is not the mode A(t) alone that causes dynamical effects, but it also depends on the timescale of the measured property P. Promoting vibrations (to be discussed in Sections 2-4) are a dynamic effect in this sense, since their dynamics is coupled to the reaction coordinate and have similar timescales. Conformation fluctuations that enhance tunneling (to be discussed in Section 5) are a statistical effect the reaction rate is the sum of transition state theory (TST) rates for barriers corresponding to some configuration, weighted by the probability that the system reaches that configuration. This distinction between dynamic and statistical phenomena in proteins was first made in the classic paper of Agmon and Hopfield.4 We will discuss three kinds of motions ... 

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