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Chinese Physics Letters

Influence of Quantum Feedback Control on Excitation Energy Transfer*

Xiao-Lan Zong, Wei Song, Ming Yang, Zhuo‐Liang Cao

Published Jun 1, 2020• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Excitation energy transfer (EET) plays a vital role in many areas of physics and biology processes. Here we address the role of quantum-jump-based feedback control in the efficiency of EET through a chain model. Usually, the decoherence caused by dissipative noise is detrimental to the transfer efficiency. We demonstrate that feedback control can always enhance the efficiency of EET and the dependence of different feedback controls is also discussed in detail. In addition, we investigate the strategy to enhance the efficiency of EET in the Fenna–Matthews–Olson complex as a prototype for larger photosynthetic energy transfer systems.

DOI
10.1088/0256-307x/37/6/060501

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Excitation energy transfer (EET) plays a vital role in many areas of physics and biology processes. Here we address the role of quantum-jump-based feedback control in the efficiency of EET through a chain model. Usually, the decoherence caused by dissipative noise is detrimental to the transfer efficiency. We demonstrate that feedback control can always enhance the efficiency of EET and the dependence of different feedback controls is also discussed in detail. In addition, we investigate the strategy to enhance the efficiency of EET in the Fenna–Matthews–Olson complex as a prototype for larger photosynthetic energy transfer systems.
Open quantum system approaches are widely used in the description of physical, chemical and biological systems. A famous example is electronic excitation transfer in the initial stage of photosynthesis, where harvested energy is transferred with remarkably high efficiency to a reaction center. This transport is affected by the motion of a structured vibrational environment, which makes simulations on a classical computer very demanding. Here we propose an analog quantum simulator of complex open system dynamics with a precisely engineered quantum environment. Our setup is based on superconducting circuits, a well established technology. As an example, we demonstrate that it is feasible to simulate exciton transport in the Fenna–Matthews–Olson photosynthetic complex. Our approach allows for a controllable single-molecule simulation and the investigation of energy transfer pathways as well as non-Markovian noise-correlation effects.
Recently, long-lasting quantum effects in a number of photosynthetic complexes, which are pigment-protein molecular aggregates (PPMAs), were experimentally verified. These findings created an interest in trying to connect the known highly efficient excitation energy transfer (EET) in these systems to the existence of quantum effects such as quantum coherence and quantum correlations. It also raised the question of how these sensitive quantum effects can survive in such a macroscopic system. This thesis explores the existence and possible role of quantum effects in the EET in PPMAs. These systems can be modeled as non-Markovian open quantum systems and quantum effects can be investigated and quantified by methods developed in quantum information theory. Firstly, it is found that quantum nonlocal correlations in the EET in the Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex - a PPMA found in nature - are unlikely to exist when the initial excitation occurs in a natural manner. When the initial excitation occurs in an artificial manner by localization of the excitation on one pigment, nonlocal correlations exist on a short time scale. It is further found that in order for nonlocal correlations to be preserved in such a system, the excitation must be trapped on two pigments at the time and these pigments must not interact strongly with other pigments in the complex. Secondly, it is shown that quantum coherence is not in general a resource for efficient EET in model systems consisting of a network of pigments; systems optimized with respect to the amount of coherence do not coincide with systems with optimal EET efficiency between two end-site pigments. Thirdly, it is found that environmental effects and system-environment interactions can be tuned to optimize the EET efficiency in model PPMAs. The features of optimal environments highly depends on the structure of the pigment system and in particular, the relationship between the pigments excitation energies. It is further shown that a non-Markovian dynamics cannot be connected to an increased EET efficiency in these systems.
Recently, the coherent modified Redfield theory (CMRT) has been widely used to simulate the excitation-energy-transfer (EET) processes in photosynthetic systems. However, the numerical simulation of the CMRT is computationally expensive when dealing with large-scale systems, e.g. photosystem I (PSI) and II (PSII). On the other hand, the chemical reaction and fluorescence loss traditionally treated by the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian approach may result in significantly error in a wide range of parameters. To address these issues, we introduce a quantum jump approach (QJA) based on the CMRT to simulate the evolution of photosynthetic complexes including both the chemical reaction and fluorescence loss. The QJA shows higher accuracy and efficiency in simulating the EET processes. The QJA-CMRT approach may provide a powerful tool to design and optimize artificial photosynthetic systems, which benefits future innovation in the field of energy.
In this work, energy transfer in the photosynthetic process was studied from a quantum perspective, using the Fenna–Matthews–Olson (FMO) complex as a model. The density operator formalism and the Lindblad master equation were employed to describe the non-unitary dynamics of an open system subject to injection, extraction, and decoherence processes. A two-level system and a three-site FMO complex were analyzed, allowing the study of phenomena such as Rabi oscillations, environment-induced coherence loss, and the emergence of Environment-Assisted Quantum Transport (ENAQT). Through numerical simulations, exciton and heat currents, von Neumann entropy, global and intersite entanglement, and energy transfer efficiency were calculated. The results show that, far from being an obstacle, the interaction with the environment can enhance photosynthetic efficiency under intermediate noise regimes, thus validating the ENAQT hypothesis. This study confirms that photosynthetic systems exploit a delicate balance between coherence and decoherence to optimize energy transport.
Abstract The Fenna-Matthews-Olson light-harvesting complexes have become a center of attention due to their high excitation energy transfer efficiency, which may surpass 98%. Experimental results reveal the presence of quantum entanglement in the protein structure, which seems to be associated to such a remarkably high efficiency. Notably, Redfield and Lindblad master equations have been already used to model the chromophore excitation in the protein complex as well as its interactions with the environment. The entanglement arising during the process has been quantified through several measures. This work provides a short review of methods used to model the above described system. It is also discussed the introduction of two nonconventional measures addresed to quantify the emergent entanglement.
We study the evolution of quantum entanglement during exciton energy transfer (EET) in a network model of the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) complex, a biological pigment-protein complex involved in the early steps of photosynthesis in sulfur bacteria. The influence of Markovian as well as spatially and temporally correlated (non-Markovian) noise on the generation of entanglement across distinct chromophores (site entanglement) and different excitonic eigenstates (mode entanglement) is studied for different injection mechanisms, including thermal and coherent laser excitation. Additionally, we study the entangling power of the FMO complex under natural operating conditions. While quantum information processing tends to favor maximal entanglement, near unit EET is achieved as the result of an intricate interplay between coherent and noisy processes where the initial part of the evolution displays intermediate values of both forms of entanglement.