Abstract
An exactly solvable model for single-molecule kinetics is suggested, based on the following assumptions: (i) A single molecule can exist in different chemical states and the random transitions from one chemical state to another can be described by a local master equation with time-dependent transition rates. (ii) Because of conformational and other intramolecular fluctuations the rate coefficients in the master equation are random functions of time; their stochastic properties are represented in terms of a set of control parameters. We assume that the fluctuating rate coefficients fulfill a separability condition, that is, they are made up of the multiplicative contributions of two factors: (a) a universal factor, which depends on the vector of control parameters and is the same for all chemical transformation processes and (b) process-dependent factors, which depend on the initial and final chemical states of the molecule but are independent of the control parameters. For systems with two chemical states the condition of separability is automatically fulfilled. We introduce an intrinsic time scale, which makes it possible to compute theoretically various experimental observables, such as the correlation functions of the fluorescent signal. We analyze the connections between the condition of separability and detailed balance, and discuss the possible cause of chemical oscillations in single molecule kinetics. We show that the intrinsic dynamics of the molecule, expressed by the fluctuations of the control parameters, may lead to damped oscillations of the correlation functions of the fluorescent signal. The influence of the random fluctuations on the control parameters may be described by a renormalized master equation with nonfluctuating apparent rate coefficients. The apparent rate coefficients do not have to obey a condition of detailed balance, even though the real rate coefficients do obey such a condition. It follows that the renormalized master equation may have damped oscillatory solutions.