Quantum Approach to Fast Protein-Folding Time*

Abstract

In the traditional random-conformational-search model, various hypotheses with a series of meta-stable intermediate states were proposed to resolve the Levinthal paradox in protein-folding time. Here we introduce a quantum strategy to formulate protein folding as a quantum walk on a definite graph, which provides us a general framework without making hypotheses. Evaluating it by the mean of first passage time, we find that the folding time via our quantum approach is much shorter than the one obtained via classical random walks. This idea is expected to evoke more insights for future studies.