EXCITON SELF-TRAPPING IN THE GINZBURG-LANDAU FRAMEWORK

in this paper we reformulate the Davydov theory for exciton self-trapp ing in the Ginzburg-Landau language of phase transitions. In the param eter range of the Davydov system, where both the nonlinearity- and the dipole-dipole coupling parameters are positive, explicit expressions for the wavefunction and energy per pulse, are derived for all possibl e extended elliptic wave solutions. The corresponding partition functi on, free energy and specific heat are calculated numerically. It is sh own that for small proteins, and at physiological temperatures, these extended waves may play a role thermodynamically.