Markov processes in single molecule fluorescence

This article examines the current status of Markov processes in single molecule fluorescence. For molecular dynamics to be described by a Markov process, the Markov process must include all states involved in the dynamics and the first-passage time (FPT) distributions out of those states must be describable by a simple exponential law. The observation of non-exponential FPT distributions or other evidence of non-Markovian dynamics is common in single molecule studies and offers an opportunity to expand the Markov model to include new dynamics or states that improve understanding of the system. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.