Related papers: Structure and efficiency in bacterial photosynthet…
Elucidating quantum coherence effects and geometrical factors for efficient energy transfer in photosynthesis has the potential to uncover non-classical design principles for advanced organic materials. We study energy transfer in a linear…
For more than 50 years we have known that photosynthetic systems harvest solar energy with almost unit {\it quantum efficiency}. However, recent experimental evidence of {\it quantum coherence} during the excitonic energy transport in…
Light harvesting by photosystem II (PSII) in plants is highly efficient and acclimates to rapid changes in the intensity of sunlight. However, the mechanisms of PSII light harvesting have remained experimentally inaccessible. Using a…
A non-trivial interplay between quantum coherence and dissipative environment-driven dynamics is becoming increasingly recognised as key for efficient energy transport in photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes, and converting these…
Experimental and theoretical evidence point out to the crucial role of specific resonant intramolecular vibrational modes in the interpretation of long-lived coherences observed in two-dimensional spectra of some natural and synthetic light…
In photosynthetic organisms, the energy of light during illumination is absorbed by the antenna complexes, which is transmitted by excitons and is either absorbed by the reaction centers (RCs), which have been closed in this way, or emitted…
Chlorosomes are likely the largest and most efficient natural light-harvesting photosynthetic antenna systems. They are composed of large numbers of bacteriochlorophylls organized into supramolecular aggregates. We explore the microscopic…
Transport phenomena in organic, self-assembled molecular J-aggregates have long attracted a great deal of attention due to its potential role in designing novel organic photovoltaic devices. A large number of theoretical and experimental…
Light harvesting as the first step in photosynthesis is of prime importance for life on earth. For a theoretical description of photochemical processes during light harvesting, spectral densities are key quantities. They serve as input…
The promise of any small improvement in the performance of light-harvesting devices, is sufficient to drive enormous experimental efforts. However these efforts are almost exclusively focused on enhancing the power conversion efficiency…
Photosynthesis is the basic process used by plants to convert light energy in reaction centers into chemical energy. The high efficiency of this process is not yet understood today. Using the formalism for the description of open quantum…
Recent observations of beating signals in the excitation energy transfer dynamics of photosynthetic complexes have been interpreted as evidence for sustained coherences that are sufficiently long-lived for energy transport and coherence to…
Until recently it was believed that photosynthesis, a fundamental process for life on earth, could be fully understood with semi-classical models. However, puzzling quantum phenomena have been observed in several photosynthetic…
In this paper we consider dynamics of a molecular system subjected to external pumping by a light source. Within a completely quantum mechanical treatment, we derive a general formula, which enables to asses effects of different light…
Photosynthesis powers life on our planet. The basic photosynthetic architecture comprises antenna complexes to harvest solar energy and reaction centers to convert the energy into a stable charge separated state. In oxygenic photosynthesis,…
Photosynthetic organisms rely on a series of self-assembled nanostructures with tuned electronic energy levels in order to transport energy from where it is collected by photon absorption, to reaction centers where the energy is used to…
Fluctuations in the energy gap and coupling constants in and between chromophores can play important role in the absorption and energy transfer across a collection of two level systems. In a noisy environment, fluctuations can control…
Spectroscopic experiments have identified long-lived coherences in several light-harvesting systems, suggesting that coherent effects may be relevant to their performance. However, there is limited experimental evidence of coherence…
Photosynthetic complexes improve the transfer of excitation energy from peripheral antennas to reaction centers in several ways. In particular, a downward energy funnel can direct excitons in the right direction, while coherent excitonic…
During the long course of evolution, nature has learnt how to exploit quantum effects. In fact, recent experiments reveal the existence of quantum processes whose coherence extends over unexpectedly long time and space ranges. In…