The Effect of Spin Relaxation on Magnetic Compass Sensitivity in ErCry4a

Abstract

This study explores the impact of thermal motion on the magnetic compass mechanism in migratory birds, focusing on the radical pair mechanism within cryptochrome photoreceptors. The coherence of radical pairs, crucial for magnetic field inference, is curbed by spin relaxation induced by intra‐protein motion. Molecular dynamics simulations, density‐functional‐theory‐based calculations, and spin dynamics calculations were employed, utilizing Bloch‐Redfield‐Wangsness (BRW) relaxation theory, to investigate compass sensitivity. Previous research hypothesized that European robin’s cryptochrome 4a (ErCry4a) optimized intra‐protein motion to minimize spin relaxation, enhancing magnetic sensing compared to the plant Arabidopsis thaliana’s cryptochrome 1 (AtCry1). Different correlation times of the nuclear hyperfine coupling constants in AtCry1 and ErCry4a were indeed found, leading to distinct radical pair yields in the two species, with ErCry4a showing optimized sensitivity. However, this optimization is likely negligible in realistic spin systems with numerous nuclear spins. Beyond insights in magnetic sensing, the study presents a detailed method employing molecular dynamics simulations to assess spin relaxation effects on chemical reactions with realistically modelled protein motion, relevant for studying radical pair reactions at finite temperature.