Semiconductivity of Protein: The Saxon–Hutner–Luttinger Theorem in Biopolymers

Abstract

We study semiconductivity of protein with a primary structure, where we use the transfer matrix method of the tight-binding model for electrons in a protein. We first introduce the model and the scheme for obtaining the spectrum. Second, we set up the transfer matrices in order to apply for a protein with an amino acid sequence. Third, we prove the Saxon–Hutner conjecture for the one-dimensional disordered polyatomic chains, and apply it to the protein system. We show that this theorem provides a good foundation for understanding the intriguing semiconductive character of the protein, which was first suggested by Szent–Györgyi a long time ago.