Information Exchange via Surface Modified Resonance Energy Transfer

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical model for resonance energy transfer between atoms near phospholipid surfaces, highlighting how surface modifications influence interaction range and sign, with implications for biological recognition mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed theoretical framework for resonance interactions involving surface-adsorbed atoms, including dielectric properties and potential energy sign transitions.

Findings

Resonance interactions can switch from attraction to repulsion near surfaces.

Surface-modified resonance energy transfer extends over several hundred Ångströms.

Potential mechanisms for biological recognition based on energy transfer sign changes.

Abstract

The theory is presented for resonance interaction between two atoms in an excited configuration: one atom, the "receptor" of information (i.e. energy), adsorbed on a phospholipid surface and the other atom, the "emitter" of information (i.e. energy), a long distance away. The dielectric function for a specific phospholipid membrane is obtained from density functional theory calculations. We present numerical results comparing the range and magnitude of non-specific Casimir-Polder interactions with the much more long-ranged, and highly specific, resonance interaction. A study of the resonance interaction with one or both atoms adsorbed on a phospholipid membrane surface reveals a possibility to have a cross over from attraction to repulsion or from repulsion to attraction at separations between receptor and emitter atoms exceeding several hundred {\AA}ngstr\"oms. The energy transfer and the observed transitions in the sign of the interaction energies near surfaces provide potential new ways to start recognition processes in biological systems.