Approach to nonadiabatic transitions by density matrix evolution and molecular dynamics simulations

Many biological processes are characterized by an essentially quantum dynamical event, such as electron or proton transfer, in a complex classical environment. To treat such processes properly by computer simulation, allowing nonadiabatic transitions involving excited states, we recently developed a density matrix evolution (DME ) method [H. J. C. Berendsen and J. Mavri, J. Phys. Chem, 97 , 13464 (1993)] which simulates the dynamics of quantum systems embedded in a classical environment. The formalism of the method is presented and an overview of the applications ranging from collisions of a quantum harmonic oscillator with noble gas atoms to proton tunneling in a double-well hydrogen bond is given. The methodology for treatment of proton-transfer processes with inclusion of excited states is presented. Future application of the method on biologically interesting processes, such as proton transfer in enzymatic reactions, is discussed. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.