Abstract
To investigate the effect of quantum coherence on electronic energy transfer, which is the subject of current interest in photosynthesis, we solve the problem of transport for the simplest model of an aggregate of monomers interacting through dipole-dipole forces using both quantum and classical dynamics. We conclude that for realistic coupling strengths quantum and classical coherent transport are identical. This is demonstrated by numerical calculations for a linear chain and for the photosynthetic Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex.
- Received 26 November 2010
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.83.051911
©2011 American Physical Society
Synopsis
Photosynthesis disentangled?
Published 12 May 2011
According to calculations, a quantum version of energy transfer in plants would not necessarily offer any speedup compared to its classical counterpart.
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