Abstract
Recently, several works have analysed the efficiency of photosynthetic complexes in a transient scenario and how that efficiency is affected by environmental noise. Here, following a quantum master equation approach, we study the energy and excitation transport in fully connected networks both in general and in the particular case of the Fenna–Matthew–Olson complex. The analysis is carried out for the steady state of the system where the excitation energy is constantly “flowing” through the system. Steady state transport scenarios are particularly relevant if the evolution of the quantum system is not conditioned on the arrival of individual excitations. By adding dephasing to the system, we analyse the possibility of noise-enhancement of the quantum transport.
Highlights
In the last years, quantum transport in photosynthetic complexes has become an interesting field of study and debate
An important part of this research focusses on the excitation transfer from the antennae that harvest the sunlight to the reaction centre (RC) where the photosynthetic process takes place
Even where the noise can enhance the number of particles arriving at the sink per unit time, it can at the same time reduce the energy transferred to it
Summary
Quantum transport in photosynthetic complexes has become an interesting field of study and debate. For the Fenna–Matthew–Olson (FMO) complex of green sulfur bacteria, empirical evidence suggests that such transport is coherent even at room temperature [1,2,3] These experiments show that the transient behaviour takes place on time scales much shorter than the decoherence time due to the environment. Some of the conclusions of [14], regarding the importance of a steady state picture, are summarized in the following paragraph: `The classical picture of the photon as a particle incident on the molecule, repeatedly initiating dynamics, assumes a known photon arrival time This too is incorrect and inconsistent with the quantum analysis insofar as no specific arrival time can be presumed unless the experiment itself is designed to measure such times’. These arguments makes it reasonable to analyse the natural photosynthetic processes in other regimes, such as a steady state scenario
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