相关论文: Energy conversion in Purple Bacteria Photosynthesi…
We develop a detailed theoretical model of photo-induced proton-coupled electron transfer (PPCET) processes, which are at the basis of solar energy harvesting in biological systems and photovoltaic materials. Our model enables to analyze…
Plants have developed intricate mechanisms to adapt to changing light conditions. Besides photo- and helio- tropism -- the differential growth towards light and the diurnal motion with respect to sunlight -- chloroplast motion acts as a…
Mathematical models of photosynthesis-irradiance relationships in phytoplankton are used to compute integrated water-column photosynthetic rates and predict primary production. Models typically ignore an important phenomenon observed in…
The fundamental physical mechanisms of energy transfer in photosynthetic complexes is not yet fully understood. In particular, the degree of efficiency or sensitivity of these systems for energy transfer is not known given their…
From a purely operational standpoint, the existence of microbes that can grow under extreme conditions, or "extremophiles", leads to the question of how the molecules making up these microbes can maintain both their structure and function.…
Transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy has proved fundamental to our understanding of energy and charge transfer in biological systems, allowing measurements of photoactive proteins on sub-picosecond timescales. Recently, ultrafast TA…
Consider a population of organisms that harvest free energy from their environment to reproduce. This paper shows that if the organisms' reproductive rates are proportional to the amount of physical free energy that they can convert into…
In the search for life on other planets, the presence of photosynthetic vegetation may be detectable from the colors of light it reflects. On the modern Earth, this spectral reflectance is characterized by an increase in reflectance between…
We study a model of a light-induced proton pump in artificial reaction centers. The model contains a molecular triad with four electron states (i.e., one donor state, two photosensitive group states, and one acceptor state) as well as a…
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 initial energy transfer in photosynthesis occurs between the light-harvesting pigments and on ultrafast timescales. We analyze the carotenoid to bacteriochlorophyll energy transfer in LH2 Marichromatium purpuratum as well as in an…
Natural light-harvesting antenna complexes efficiently capture solar energy using chlorophyll, i.e., magnesium porphyrin pigments, embedded in a protein matrix. Inspired by this natural configuration, artificial clay-porphyrin antenna…
Phototaxis is an important reaction to light displayed by a wide range of motile microorganisms. Flagellated eukaryotic microalgae in particular, like the model organism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, steer either towards or away from light by…
Microorganismal motility is often characterised by complex responses to environmental physico-chemical stimuli. Although the biological basis of these responses is often not well understood, their exploitation already promises novel avenues…
Light-matter interactions that lead to nonthermal changes in size of the sample constitute a photostrictive effect in many compounds. The photostriction phenomenon was observed in four main groups of materials, ferroelectrics, polar, and…
Traditional mathematical models of photosynthesis are based on mass action kinetics of light reactions. This approach requires the modeller to enumerate all the possible state combinations of the modelled chemical species. This leads to…
We propose a pyroelectric energy conversion device that converts heat directly to electricity. In contrast to conventional pyroelectric energy conversion designs, this energy harvesting system is detached from any external power sources,…
In this perspective article, we discuss bacterial populations as a model system of active matter. It allows for the exploration and characterization of various phases of active matter and brings rich implications for both physics and…
Weakly collisional and collisionless plasmas are typically far from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE), and understanding energy conversion in such systems is a forefront research problem. The standard approach is to investigate changes…
Controlling and detecting thermal radiation is of vital importance for varied applications ranging from energy conversion systems and nanoscale information processing devices to infrared imaging, spectroscopy and sensing. We review the…