Quantum entanglement in photosynthetic light harvesting

ORAL

Abstract

Identification of non-trivial quantum mechanical effects in the functioning of biological systems has been a long-standing and elusive goal in the fields of physics, chemistry and biology. Recent progress in control and measurement technologies, especially in the optical spectroscopy domain, have made possible the identification of such effects. I examine light harvesting components of photosynthetic organisms -- complex, coupled, many-body quantum systems -- in which electronic coherence has recently been shown to survive for relatively long time scales despite the effects of their noisy environments. By constructing useful measures of entanglement for such systems, and using an accurate model of energy transfer dynamics in the presence of noise, I demonstrate the existence of quantum entanglement in a commonly studied light harvesting complex. The lifetimes and temperature dependency of entanglement are examined in detail. This study constitutes the first rigorous quantification of entanglement in a biological system.

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Authors

  • Mohan Sarovar

    University of California, Berkeley

  • Joshua Lusk

    University of New Mexico, Gallup Campus, Sciprint.org, Institute of Gravitation and Cosmology, Moscow, Russia, CSU Long Beach, California State University - East Bay, LLNL, UC Santa Cruz, University of California, Berkeley, Loma Linda Medical University, Northern Illinois University, Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, Dr, Pr, California State University Long Beach, California Polytechnic State University, Department of Physics, California State University, Fresno, NPS, UC-Davis, University of California-Davis, University of California Riverside, Rutgers University, Pomona College, Department of Physics, Imperial College London, Materials Research Laboratory, UC Santa Barbara, Naval Postgraduate School, Whittier College, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales - Cardiff School of Biosciences, University of California, Davis - Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Davis - Neurosurgery, Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-5050, Queen's University, Belfast, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Technical University of Darmstadt, University of York, University of California, Los Angeles, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Imperial College, The Blackett Laboratory, University of Strathclyde, University of Oxford, UC Berkeley, UC Berkeley, SLAC, Gesellschaft f\"ur Schwerionenforschung GSI, University of Washington, Seattle, LLNL and XIA LLC, University of Graz, University of California, Davis, Naval Surface Warfare Center-Indian Head Division

  • Joshua Lusk

    University of New Mexico, Gallup Campus, Sciprint.org, Institute of Gravitation and Cosmology, Moscow, Russia, CSU Long Beach, California State University - East Bay, LLNL, UC Santa Cruz, University of California, Berkeley, Loma Linda Medical University, Northern Illinois University, Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, Dr, Pr, California State University Long Beach, California Polytechnic State University, Department of Physics, California State University, Fresno, NPS, UC-Davis, University of California-Davis, University of California Riverside, Rutgers University, Pomona College, Department of Physics, Imperial College London, Materials Research Laboratory, UC Santa Barbara, Naval Postgraduate School, Whittier College, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales - Cardiff School of Biosciences, University of California, Davis - Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Davis - Neurosurgery, Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-5050, Queen's University, Belfast, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Technical University of Darmstadt, University of York, University of California, Los Angeles, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Imperial College, The Blackett Laboratory, University of Strathclyde, University of Oxford, UC Berkeley, UC Berkeley, SLAC, Gesellschaft f\"ur Schwerionenforschung GSI, University of Washington, Seattle, LLNL and XIA LLC, University of Graz, University of California, Davis, Naval Surface Warfare Center-Indian Head Division

  • Joshua Lusk

    University of New Mexico, Gallup Campus, Sciprint.org, Institute of Gravitation and Cosmology, Moscow, Russia, CSU Long Beach, California State University - East Bay, LLNL, UC Santa Cruz, University of California, Berkeley, Loma Linda Medical University, Northern Illinois University, Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, Dr, Pr, California State University Long Beach, California Polytechnic State University, Department of Physics, California State University, Fresno, NPS, UC-Davis, University of California-Davis, University of California Riverside, Rutgers University, Pomona College, Department of Physics, Imperial College London, Materials Research Laboratory, UC Santa Barbara, Naval Postgraduate School, Whittier College, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales - Cardiff School of Biosciences, University of California, Davis - Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Davis - Neurosurgery, Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-5050, Queen's University, Belfast, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Technical University of Darmstadt, University of York, University of California, Los Angeles, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Imperial College, The Blackett Laboratory, University of Strathclyde, University of Oxford, UC Berkeley, UC Berkeley, SLAC, Gesellschaft f\"ur Schwerionenforschung GSI, University of Washington, Seattle, LLNL and XIA LLC, University of Graz, University of California, Davis, Naval Surface Warfare Center-Indian Head Division