Quantum and classical dynamics in condensed phases and complex systems

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Designing and controlling self-propelled nanomotors and molecular machines is an important objective in nanotechnology. Achieving this objective could provide the basis for applications related to microfluidic devices, drug delivery and cargo transport. Nature has fabricated a large variety of molecular motors and we depend on the crucial roles they play in biological function. This has inspired scientists to copy nature and create artificial tiny structures that can propel themselves. These small machines are buffeted by the molecules in the environments in which they move and must be able to function effectively in spite of such strong perturbations. Proposed research deals with how chemically-powered nanomotors and protein machines may be modeled and how their operation can be described in theoretical terms. While classical mechanics often provides a good description of nature, quantum dynamics is required to treat chemical systems on the smallest scales. Often interest centers on the quantum dynamics of a small portion of a large system; for example, an electron transfer event that is important for how a protein may function in the cell. Recent experiments are able to probe and identify signatures of quantum dynamics in complex physical systems. The research in this proposal will provide a means to investigate the role that the environment plays in determining the nature of quantum dynamics.