Quantum biology revisited
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Date
2020-04
Authors
Cao, Jianshu
Cogdell, Richard J.
Coker, David F.
Duan, Hong-Guang
Hauer, Jürgen
Kleinekathöfer, Ulrich
Jansen, Thomas L.C.
Mančal, Tomáš
Miller, R.J. Dwayne
Ogilvie, Jennifer P.
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Published version
OA Version
Citation
Jianshu Cao, Richard J Cogdell, David F Coker, Hong-Guang Duan, Jürgen Hauer, Ulrich Kleinekathöfer, Thomas LC Jansen, Tomáš Mančal, RJ Dwayne Miller, Jennifer P Ogilvie, Valentyn I Prokhorenko, Thomas Renger, Howe-Siang Tan, Roel Tempelaar, Michael Thorwart, Erling Thyrhaug, Sebastian Westenhoff, Donatas Zigmantas. 2020. "Quantum biology revisited.." Sci Adv, Volume 6, Issue 14, pp. eaaz4888 - ?. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaz4888
Abstract
Photosynthesis is a highly optimized process from which valuable lessons can be learned about the operating principles in nature. Its primary steps involve energy transport operating near theoretical quantum limits in efficiency. Recently, extensive research was motivated by the hypothesis that nature used quantum coherences to direct energy transfer. This body of work, a cornerstone for the field of quantum biology, rests on the interpretation of small-amplitude oscillations in two-dimensional electronic spectra of photosynthetic complexes. This Review discusses recent work reexamining these claims and demonstrates that interexciton coherences are too short lived to have any functional significance in photosynthetic energy transfer. Instead, the observed long-lived coherences originate from impulsively excited vibrations, generally observed in femtosecond spectroscopy. These efforts, collectively, lead to a more detailed understanding of the quantum aspects of dissipation. Nature, rather than trying to avoid dissipation, exploits it via engineering of exciton-bath interaction to create efficient energy flow.
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Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).