Energy Transfer in the Light-Harvesting Complexes of Purple Bacteria

In this paper, we use a nonlinear decohering quantum model to study the initial step of photosynthesis which is an ultrafast transfer process of absorption the sunlight by light-harvesting complexes and electronic excitation transfer to the reaction center(RC). In this decohering model, the Hamiltonian of the system commutes with the systemenvironment interaction. We take B850 ring of light-harvesting complex II(LH-II) in purple bacteria as an example to calculate the efficiency of the energy transfer as a function of time. We find that the environmental noise can make the LH-II have stable energy transfer efficiency over a long time. This is to say that the environmental noise which is the decohering source has advantage of the energy transfer in the process of photosynthesis.     

Light absorption and excitation energy transfer calculations in primitive photosynthetic bacteria

In photosynthetic organisms, light energy is converted into chemical energy through the light absorption and excitation energy transfer (EET) processes. These processes start in light-harvesting complexes, which contain special photosynthetic pigments. The exploration of unique mechanisms in light-harvesting complexes is directly related to studies, such as artificial photosynthesis or biosignatures in astrobiology. We examined, through ab initio calculations, the light absorption and EET processes using cluster models of light-harvesting complexes in purple bacteria (LH2). We evaluated absorption spectra and energy transfer rates using the LH2 monomer and dimer models to reproduce experimental results. After the calibration tests, a LH2 aggregation model, composed of 7 or 19 LH2s aligned in triangle lattice, was examined. We found that the light absorption is red shifted and the energy transfer becomes faster as the system size increases. We also found that EET is accelerated by exchanging the central pigments to lower energy excited pigments. As an astrobiological application, we calculated light absorptions efficiencies of the LH2 in different photoenvironments.     

Energy transfer between two aggregates in light-harvesting complexes

Energy transfer processes between two aggregates in a coupled chromophoric-pigment(protein)system are studied via the standard master equation approach.Each pigment of the two aggregates is modeled as a two-level system.The excitation energy is assumed to be transferred from the donor aggregate to the acceptor aggregate.The model can be used to theoretically simulate many aspects of light-harvesting complexes(LHCs).By applying the real bio-parameters of photosynthesis,we numerically investigate the efficiency of energy transfer(EET)between the two aggregates in terms of some factors,e.g.,the initial coherence of the donor aggregate,the coupling strengthes between the two aggregates and between different pigments,and the effects of noise from the environment.Our results provide evidence for that the actual numbers of pigments in the chromophoric rings of LHCs should be the optimum parameters for a high EET.We also give a detailed analysis of the effects of noise on the EET.     

Energy transfer and quantum correlation dynamics in FMO light-harvesting complex

The dynamics of energy transfer in Fenna–Matthews–Olson (FMO) light-harvesting complex interacting with a phonon bath is investigated. In this contribution, by considering the phonon bath as a source of stochastic noise, a new approach is proposed. Also, by calculating the global quantum entanglement and global quantum discord, the time evolution of the quantum correlation during the process is evaluated. The effects of temperature and initial excited state on the energy transfer and the quantum correlation are studied. It is shown, in agreement with the previous results, that the increasing of the temperature gives rise to the faster delocalisation of energy transfer and global quantum entanglement in the FMO complex. The proposed model predicts that the global discord is resistance versus the raising temperature. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the quantum entanglement with respect to the global quantum discord has a significant role in the process of energy transfer in the FMO complex.     

光诱导新型羧基芳基苄醚树枝配体周边取代酞菁锌(Ⅱ)配合物的分子内能量转移

通过紫外光谱法、稳态和时间分辨荧光光谱法比较,研究了光诱导新型1-2代羧基芳基苄醚树枝配体周边取代酞菁锌(Ⅱ)配合物的分子内能量转移。研究结果表明：1-2代羧基芳基苄醚树枝配体周边取代酞菁锌(Ⅱ)配合物主要以单体形式存在于二甲基亚砜中;在270 nm处树枝配体吸收峰强度随着树枝代数增加而增加,因此树枝配体的光捕获能力增强;树枝代数对酞菁核的荧光特性影响显著,随着树枝代数增加,荧光寿命和荧光量子产率降低;在270 nm激发,能量从外围树枝配体(给体)传递给酞菁核心(受体),这一过程中外围树枝充当能量肼的角色,随着树枝代数增加,分子内能量转移效率增大。因此,新型羧基为端基的芳基苄醚树枝酞菁锌配合物是一类新型光捕获天线结构的化合物。     

Phonon-assisted excitation energy transfer in photosynthetic systems

The phonon-assisted process of energy transfer aiming at exploring the newly emerging frontier between biology and physics is an issue of central interest.This article shows the important role of the intramolecular vibrational modes for excitation energy transfer in the photosynthetic systems.Based on a dimer system consisting of a donor and an acceptor modeled by two two-level systems,in which one of them is coupled to a high-energy vibrational mode,we derive an effective Hamiltonian describing the vibration-assisted coherent energy transfer process in the polaron frame.The effective Hamiltonian reveals in the case that the vibrational mode dynamically matches the energy detuning between the donor and the acceptor,the original detuned energy transfer becomes resonant energy transfer.In addition,the population dynamics and coherence dynamics of the dimer system with and without vibration-assistance are investigated numerically.It is found that,the energy transfer efficiency and the transfer time depend heavily on the interaction strength of the donor and the high-energy vibrational mode,as well as the vibrational frequency.The numerical results also indicate that the initial state and dissipation rate of the vibrational mode have little influence on the dynamics of the dimer system.Results obtained in this article are not only helpful to understand the natural photosynthesis,but also offer an optimal design principle for artificial photosynthesis.     

高等植物外周捕光天线LHCⅡ中的超快光动力学过程

利用飞秒抽运探测技术及时间分辨荧光(TRPL)等光谱技术对高等植物LHCⅡ中的超快光动力学过程进行了研究。在其时间分辨荧光光谱中表现出了明显的各向异性特性。实验上观察了LHCⅡ中色素间的能量传递过程,由飞秒动力学发现,单体内Chlb到邻近的Chla之间的能量传递在200～300fs的时间尺度,Chla激子带间的能量弛豫发生在几百飞秒,不同单体Chla分子间能量分布过程在几个皮秒。而时间分辨荧光和飞秒动力学过程中上百皮秒的慢过程归属于不同聚集体间的能量平衡过程或分子构象变化。     

飞秒差异吸收微弱信号测量技术

本文报道一种用飞秒差异吸收光谱装置探测光合作用光系统Ⅱ(PS Ⅱ)颗粒复合物电子传递、电荷分离、能量传递技术,装置的时间分辨率小于120fs,光谱调谐范围为720～860nm,采用低温双探头Boxcar平均处理器进行信息采集处理,测得了PS Ⅱ颗粒复合物3.2±0.3Ps的P680^* Pheo到P680⁺Pheo^-的电荷分离时间,还获得了由外周天线到内周天线CP43和CP47,再到PSⅡ反应中心的能量传递时间25ps,以及电荷分离后的能量衰变时间37.2ps.     

光系统Ⅱ捕光复合物中能量传递动力学研究

采用时间分辩荧光光谱技术研究捕光色素复合体(LHCⅡ)荧光的时间光谱特性.以脉宽为120fs、重复率为82MHz、波长为360nm～420nm激光激发LHCⅡ样品荧光.原始信号经过数据处理,多指数拟合,解得了能量在LHCⅡ中传递的时间常量分别为320±10fs、4.0±0.1ps、20.0±0.1ps.相对应的各组分荧光占总荧光的百分比分别为3.4%、50%、46.6%.经过全局分析,解得荧光强度随波长变化曲线,其三个峰值波长分别为652nm、673nm、692nm(以去离子水为悬浮液)和658nm、687nm、700nm(以酒精为悬浮液).根据LHCⅡ结构以及荧光的时间、光谱特性分析,认为320±10fs的时间组分属于一个单体内同一膜平面中Chlb→Chla的能量传递时间;4.0±0.1ps的时间组分属于同一单体中不同膜平面间Chlb→Chla和Chla→Chla的能量传递时间;20.0±0.1ps的时间组分属于不同单体之间、不同三聚体之间Chla→Chla的能量传递时间.     

Non-Markovianity-assisted steady state entanglement

We analyze the steady state entanglement generated in a coherently coupled dimer system subject to dephasing noise as a function of the degree of Markovianity of the evolution. By keeping fixed the effective noise strength while varying the memory time of the environment, we demonstrate that non-Markovianity is an essential, quantifiable resource that may support the formation of steady state entanglement whereas purely Markovian dynamics governed by Lindblad master equations lead to separable steady states. This result illustrates possible mechanisms leading to long-lived entanglement in purely decohering, possibly local, environments. We present a feasible experimental demonstration of this noise assisted phenomenon using a system of trapped ions.     

假根羽藻外周天线内能量传递的飞秒光谱研究

在时间相关单光子技术的基础上,对假根羽藻外周天线内叶绿素分子间的能量传递进行研究.采用瞬态吸收与荧光发射谱识别样品内的具有特征光谱组分的分子,得到在叶绿素分子的Q带区主要存在以下六个特征分子：Chlb630,Chlb642,Chla653652,Chla667664,Chla676,680675,Chla683682.630 nm的飞秒脉冲光的激发下,通过对不同特征发射峰出的荧光动力学进行解析得到： 1)Chlb628分子所吸收的能量仅有大约20%被直接传递给其他叶绿素分子,传能时间小于150 fs;2)叶绿素间大部分的能量传递发生在长于76 ps 时间范围内;3)传能时间常量在几百fs及10 ps左右的间接传能可能与具有不同光谱组分特征的叶绿素分子在外周天线内的排列方式以及偶极距的取向有关;4)Chlb654,657652,Chla666664,Chla677,680674和Chla683682以荧光形势耗散能量的时间常量分别为1.41 ns, 1.39 ns, 676 ps, 709 ps,这部分在整个能量耗散中占的比例不超过40%.     

假根羽藻外周天线三聚体超快荧光动力学研究

通过对稳态、瞬态吸收谱以及瞬态荧光发射谱的测量分析得出：在三聚体内存在以下六个特征叶绿素分子Chl b628、Chl b646、Chl b654,657652、Chl a666664、Chl a677,680674、Chl a683682(下标为吸收峰,上标为发射峰).在波长为655 nm、666 nm、680 nm、683 nm时分别采用时间相干单光子技术(TCSPC)记录其荧光动力学谱.根据荧光产生的物理学机制,对这些荧光动力学谱的分析采用的是分子同时接受能量与耗散能量的指数模型,得出在离体的外周天线三聚体内,Chl b654,657652、Chl a666664、Chl a677,680674和Chla683682分子在接受Chlb628分子的传能时,大部分经过了Chlb646分子,传能时间发生在97~157ps的时间间隔内,可见Chlb646分子在外周天线三聚体中是连接Chlb和Chla传能的主要分子;Chl b654,657652…→Chl a666664…→Chl a677,680674…→Chl a683682分子依次传能的时间在10 ps左右,这种传递过程可归结为是处于激发态分子首先经过内转换后再将能量以Frster共振机制的形式传给了其它分子;大量小于1 ps 的传能过程是叶绿素分子之间以激子共振的方式进行直接传能;Chl b654,657652、Chl a666664、Chl a677,680674和Chl a683682分子以时间常量分别为1.44 ns, 1.43 ns, 636 ps, 713 ps发射荧光回到基态.     

Environment-Assisted Modulation of Heat Flux in a Bio-Inspired System Based on Collision Model

The high energy transfer efficiency of photosynthetic complexes has been a topic of research across many disciplines. Several attempts have been made in order to explain this energy transfer enhancement in terms of quantum mechanical resources such as energetic and vibration coherence and constructive effects of environmental noise. The developments in this line of research have inspired various biomimetic works aiming to use the underlying mechanisms in biological light harvesting complexes for the improvement of synthetic systems. In this article, we explore the effect of an auxiliary hierarchically structured environment interacting with a system on the steady-state heat transport across the system. The cold and hot baths are modeled by a series of identically prepared qubits in their respective thermal states, and we use a collision model to simulate the open quantum dynamics of the system. We investigate the effects of system-environment, inter-environment couplings and coherence of the structured environment on the steady state heat flux and find that such a coupling enhances the energy transfer. Our calculations reveal that there exists a non-monotonic and non-trivial relationship between the steady-state heat flux and the mentioned parameters.     

能量传递制冷机制中激光制冷的最佳泵浦频率和最大制冷效率

在能量传递型激光制冷中,对于非均匀线宽比较窄的情况,引起最大制冷效率的激发光频率不随温度的变化而变化最大制冷效率与温度呈三次暴的关系。对于非均匀线宽比较宽的情况。随着温度的降低,最佳激发光频率与非均匀线形的中心频率差越来越大,并在较低的温度下迅速拉大它们间的距离。由能量传递机制所引起的荧光制冷最大效率也随着温度的降低而越来越低,并在最后趋于零。它们随温度的降低而降低的规律与实验中得到的结论相符合。     

Theoretical study on the exciton dynamics of coherent excitation energy transfer in the phycoerythrin 545 light-harvesting complex

The experimental observation of long-lived quantum coherence in the excitation energy transfer(EET)process of the several photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes at low and room temperatures has aroused hot debate.It challenges the common perception in the field of complicated pigment molecular systems and evokes considerable theoretical efforts to seek reasonable explanations.In this work,we investigate the coherent exciton dynamics of the phycoerythrin 545(PE545)complex.We use the dissipation equation of motion to theoretically investigate the effect of the local pigment vibrations on the population transfer process.The result indicates that the realistic local pigment vibrations do assist the energy transmission.We demonstrate the coherence between different pigment molecules in the PE545 system is an essential ingredient in the EET process among various sites.The coherence makes the excitation energy delocalized,which leads to the redistribution of the excitation among all the chromophores in the steady state.Furthermore,we investigate the effects of the complex high-frequency spectral density function on the exciton dynamics and find that the high-frequency Brownian oscillator model contributes most to the exciton dynamic process.The discussions on the local pigment vibrations of the Brownian oscillator model suggest that the local heterogeneous protein environments and the effects of active vibration modes play a significant role in coherent energy transport.     

Dynamics of individuals and swarms with shot noise induced by stochastic food supply

We study the Brownian dynamics of individual particles with energy depot in two dimensions and extend the model to swarms of such particles. We assume that the elements (energy depots) are provided at discrete times with packets of chemical energy which is subsequently converted into acceleration of motion. In contrast to the mechanical white noise which is incorporated in the equations of mechanical motion and has no preferred direction, the energetic noise, as discussed in this study, is directed and it does not reverse the direction of mechanical motion. We characterize the effective noise acting on the particles and show that the stochastic energy supply may be modeled as a shot-noise driven Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process in energy which finally results in fluctuations of the velocity. We study the energy and velocity distributions for different regimes and estimate the crossover time from ballistic to diffusion motion. Further we investigate the dynamics of swarms and find a transition from translational to rotational motion depending on the rate of the shot noise.     

Environment-induced sudden transition in quantum discord dynamics

Nonclassical correlations play a crucial role in the development of quantum information science. The recent discovery that nonclassical correlations can be present even in separable (nonentangled) states has broadened this scenario. This generalized quantum correlation has been increasing in relevance in several fields, among them quantum communication, quantum computation, quantum phase transitions, and biological systems. We demonstrate here the occurrence of the sudden-change phenomenon and immunity against some sources of noise for the quantum discord and its classical counterpart, in a room temperature nuclear magnetic resonance setup. The experiment is performed in a decohering environment causing loss of phase relations among the energy eigenstates and exchange of energy between system and environment, resulting in relaxation to the Gibbs ensemble.     

ArF准分子激光系统的能量效率特性

为深入理解ArF准分子激光系统的运转机制,进而获得优化ArF准分子激光系统设计的理论及方向性指导,利用一维流体模型,以气体高压放电等离子体深紫外激光辐射过程为主要对象,研究了放电抽运ArF准分子激光系统的动力学特性,梳理了ArF准分子激光系统的能量传递过程,深入研究了等离子体放电机理,从能量沉积效率、ArF*粒子形成过程、激光输出三个方面,分析了动力学过程中影响能量效率的主要因素,提出了相应的改进优化措施.仿真结果表明,氟气及相关粒子在系统运转过程中有重要作用,工作气体中氟气的组分比例对能量效率影响较大,偏离最佳点会导致激光系统能量效率的下降.相关结论为ArF准分子激光系统的优化设计和稳定可靠运转提供了重要的理论参考依据.     

假根羽藻LHCⅡ的同质和异质三聚体的能量传递动力学研究

采用飞秒时间分辨荧光光谱技术在室温下用波长为495nm的光激发,研究了假根羽藻LHCⅡ的同质三聚体和异质三聚体这两种不同聚集形式蛋白复合物的光谱特性和传能特性.将实验获得的两样品的荧光光谱分别进行高斯解析,各得到5条亚谱带,并分析得出同质三聚体的四种特征Chl分子的光谱特性和异质三聚体的五种特征Chl分子光谱特性,另外还对两蛋白复合物的荧光光谱作了比较.利用Global优化处理方法,建立多指数拟合联立方程对荧光衰减曲线进行拟合处理,得到同质三聚体Chl分子传能的寿命：165±8.5 fs、2.2±0.6 ps、5.1±0.1 ns;异质三聚体Chl分子传能的寿命：255±6.3 fs、4±0.8 ps和3.8±0.1 ns;并且将这些时间常数作出归属.将其分析比较,快组分同质三聚体的传能速率较高,推断组成同质三聚体的同种脱辅基蛋白间的结合程度较组成异质三聚体的不同脱辅基蛋白间的更紧密,使其上结合的Chl分子空间位置更近,更有利于能量的迅速传递;而慢组分同质三聚体的偏大,可能是由于其经历的传能途径较长,传能机制上也和异质三聚体不同所致.