Transport in nonequilibrium degenerate quantum systems is investigated. The transfer rate depends on the parameters of the system. In this paper we investigate the dependence of the flow (transfer rate) on the angle between “bright” vectors (which define the interaction of the system with the environment). We show that in some approximation for the system under investigation the flow is proportional to the cosine squared of the angle between the “bright” vectors. Earlier the author has shown that in this degenerate quantum system excitation of nondecaying quantum “dark” states is possible; moreover, the effectiveness of this process is proportional to the sine squared of the angle between the “bright” vectors (this phenomenon was discussed as a possible model of excitation of quantum coherence in quantum photosynthesis). Thus quantum transport and excitation of dark states are competing processes; “dark” states can be considered as a result of leakage of quantum states in a quantum thermodynamic machine which performs the quantum transport.
Transport in nonequilibrium degenerate quantum systems is investigated. The transfer rate depends on the parameters of the system. In this paper we investigate the dependence of the flow (transfer rate) on the angle between “bright” vectors (which define the interaction of the system with the environment). We show that in some approximation for the system under investigation the flow is proportional to the cosine squared of the angle between the “bright” vectors. Earlier the author has shown that in this degenerate quantum system excitation of nondecaying quantum “dark” states is possible; moreover, the effectiveness of this process is proportional to the sine squared of the angle between the “bright” vectors (this phenomenon was discussed as a possible model of excitation of quantum coherence in quantum photosynthesis). Thus quantum transport and excitation of dark states are competing processes; “dark” states can be considered as a result of leakage of quantum states in a quantum thermodynamic machine which performs the quantum transport.
We characterize the stationary states of an excitation energy transfer model in quantum many-particle systems [Y. Aref’eva, I. Volovich and S. Kozyrev, Stochastic limit method and interference in quantum many-particles systems, Theor. Math. Phys. 183(3) (2015) 782–799] as well as the stationary states of a quantum photosynthesis model [S. Kozyrev and I. Volovich, Dark states in quantum photosynthesis, arXiv:1603.07182v1 [physics.bio-ph]] in terms of a transport operator. It turns out that, apart from the ground state, all invariant states of the excitation energy transport model are entangled. For the photosynthesis model, any invariant state in the commutant of the system Hamiltonian is a mixed bright–dark state in the sense of [S. Kozyrev and I. Volovich, Dark states in quantum photosynthesis, arXiv:1603.07182v1 [physics.bio-ph]] and it is pure dark if and only if the bright vector belongs to the kernel of this state.
We consider the dynamics of an open three-level quantum degenerate system. One of the levels in this system is degenerate. The system interacts with three reservoirs (quantum fields) and a classical external field. We show that nondecaying so-called dark states are generated in this system. Since the interactions of the degenerate level with two different reservoirs are different (correspond to different spaces of dark states), we can describe excitation and manipulations for this kind of states (in particular, observation in spectroscopical experiments). Possible applications of this model in quantum optics, quantum computations, and quantum photosynthesis are discussed.
The mechanism of vibronic amplification of transport of excitons has been discussed in connection with quantum photosynthesis. Vibrons (some modes of vibrations of molecules) have been observed experimentally in photosynthetic systems. In the present paper we consider models of vibronic amplification of quantum transfer in which the generation of vibrons as a coherent vibrational mode is described by an analog of the semiclassical laser theory. We study two models: a model of nonequilibrium three-level system with vibronic mode, and a variant of a model of lasing without inversion. We conjecture that the dark states discussed in connection with quantum photosynthesis might be related to the mechanism of vibronic “laser” without inversion, which amplifies the transfer of excitons. We prove that in the presence of a vibronic mode the transfer rate of excitons increases, and compute the dependence of the transfer rate on the parameters of the model.
A three-level quantum system interacting with non-equilibrium environment is investigated. The stationary state of the system is found (both for non-coherent and coherent environment) and relaxation and decoherence to the stationary state is described. The stationary state of the system will be non-equilibrium and will generate flows. We describe the dependence of the flows on the state of the environment. We also discuss application of this model to the problem of quantum photosynthesis, in particular, to the description of flows of excitons and generation of excitonic coherences.
In the thesis, models of quantum systems characterized by discrete time dynamics are presented and applied to different problems. More specifically, aspects of excitation transport, quantum state transfer and thermalization are investigated mainly within the framework of quantum cellular automata (QCA), which are discrete time evolution quantum systems defined on a regular lattice of, in this case, qubits. The peculiarities of QCA, together with the restriction to the first excitation sector of the Hilbert space, make it possible to define a transport dynamics on a one dimensional lattice that encompasses all classical Markov chains, as well as maps where quantum coherence between sites can build up over time. This allows for the possibility to make a direct comparison between a fully classical dynamics and a dynamics affected by quantum effects, which is of relevance both in the field of quantum biology, especially regarding the transport of electronic excitations in photosynthetic systems, and in quantum computing when dealing with the transport of an unknown quantum state. In a quantum thermodynamics context, instead, QCA can serve the purpose to validate arguments of tipicality that have been brought forward in recent years in order to demonstrate the thermalization of closed quantum systems (i.e. the tendency of any small subsystems to evolve towards the maximally mixed state). Numerical results concerning this issue are presented. Finally, a modelization of scattering-like processes, where the scattering consists of random unitary interactions between an environment and part of a quantum bipartite system is discussed. Relevant properties of the resulting state such as its mean purity and the correlations between the interacting and the “sheltered” part of the system can be analitically evaluated, and their fluctuations bounded.
This thesis is concerned with modelling the dynamics of open quantum systems in several different contexts. Of principal interest is the manner in which the environment can modify, or even dominate, a system’s quantum behaviour in order to facilitate the transport of energetic excitations. In the first research chapter, a time-local, non-Markovian quantum master equation is derived in a variationally defined reference frame, for networks of two-level systems coupled to bosonic environments. The predictions of this master equation are then compared with those derived using both weak-coupling and polaron approximations. The variational master equation is found to agree with these standard approaches in their regimes of validity, whilst interpolating between them in intermediate parameter regimes. The second research chapter focusses on the dynamics of a superconducting double quantum dot embedded in a resonant circuit. The device is considered in a regime where the ground state consists of a coherent spatial superposition of a single Cooper pair, which can be excited by a variety of interactions with the environment. The relevant transition rates are calculated and the processes responsible are identified. A numerical simulation of the system is then used to explain experimental data, and show that for certain parameters a significant fraction of excitations occur via absorption of photons from the environment. The final chapter considers a model for an olfactory receptor, in which odorant molecules are recognised by their vibrational modes. Electron transfer occurs in the receptor, dependent on the presence of a vibrational mode of the right frequency. A quantum master equation for the system is derived, and the resulting dynamics is compared to earlier semi-classical treatments. The behaviour of the receptor is found to be sensitive not only to the frequency of the vibrational mode, but also to the character of the surrounding environment. Increased dissipation on the odorant mode, as well as the presence of higher frequencies in the environment is found to improve the frequency resolution of the receptor.