Using the Helmholtz decomposition of the vector field of folding fluxes in a reduced space of collective variables, a potential of the driving force for protein folding is determined . The potential has two components and can be written as a complex function . One component is responsible for the source and sink of the folding flows (representing, respectively, the unfolded states and the native state of the protein ) , and the other  accounts for the vorticity of the flow that is produced at the boundaries of the main flow by the contact of the moving folding "fluid" with the quiescent surroundings . The theoretical consideration is illustrated by calculations for a model \beta-hairpin protein.
Using the Helmholtz decomposition of the vector field of folding fluxes in a two-dimensional space of collective variables, a potential of the driving force for protein folding is introduced . The potential has two components . One component is responsible for the source and sink of the folding flows , which represent, respectively, the unfolded states and the native state of the protein , and the other , which accounts for the flow vorticity inherently generated at the periphery of the flow field, is responsible for the canalization of the flow between the source and sink . The theoretical consideration is illustrated by calculations for a model \beta-hairpin protein.
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reduced
two-dimensional
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determined
introduced
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and can be written as a complex function
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(representing,
, which represent,
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)
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, which
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vorticity
flow vorticity inherently generated at the periphery
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that is produced at the boundaries of the main flow by the contact of the moving folding "fluid" with the quiescent surroundings
field, is responsible for the canalization of the flow between the source and sink