Relation between Dephasing Time and Energy Gap Fluctuations in Biomolecular Systems

Area of Science:

• Quantum Biology
• Biophysics
• Computational Chemistry

Background:

• Excitation energy and charge transfer are crucial quantum processes in biological systems.
• Understanding dephasing effects is key to elucidating the efficiency of these biological quantum phenomena.
• Recent experiments highlight the presence of quantum coherences in biological systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between dephasing time and energy gap fluctuations in individual molecular subunits.
• To quantitatively assess the impact of energy gap fluctuations on dephasing dynamics.
• To establish a foundation for understanding dephasing in complex biological systems.

Main Methods:

• Extensive molecular simulations were performed.
• The study analyzed various biological systems including FMO complexes, PE545, LH2, DNA, photolyase, and cryptochromes.
• Focus was placed on individual molecular subunits within these systems.

Main Results:

• A quantitative inverse proportionality was confirmed between dephasing time and average gap energy fluctuation for individual molecular subunits.
• This finding provides a clear correlation for isolated molecular components.
• The relationship for entire complexes, including intermolecular couplings, remains to be verified.

Conclusions:

• The study quantitatively confirms an inverse relationship between dephasing time and energy gap fluctuations at the single-molecule level.
• This highlights the significant role of local environmental fluctuations in biological quantum dynamics.
• Further research is required to validate this relationship in the context of complete molecular complexes and their interactions.