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Levinthal's paradox.

R Zwanzig·A Szabo·B Bagchi
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Abstract

Levinthal's paradox is that finding the native folded state of a protein by a random search among all possible configurations can take an enormously long time. Yet proteins can fold in seconds or less. Mathematical analysis of a simple model shows that a small and physically reasonable energy bias against locally unfavorable configurations, of the order of a few kT, can reduce Levinthal's time to a biologically significant size.

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R Zwanzig, A Szabo, B Bagchi. 1992-01-01. Levinthal's paradox.. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.89.1.20

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