This is a little something I wrote examining some of the relatively recent research on the role of quantum coherence in the energy transfer process in photosynthesis. My original target audience was the director of the Center for Quantum Information and Control (CQuIC), and as such, it’s written at a bit higher level than most of my blog posts. A lot of concepts that I normally would have unpacked into simpler more digestible bits for a more general audience were compressed into a more concise form by necessity, which sometimes involved taking for granted a mutual familiarity and understanding of certain terms and ideas from quantum theory and biophysics. So, in this particular form, it’s not for everyone.
I have considered reformulating it for a less specialized audience by expanding certain sections with explanations of some of the fundamental background knowledge, but I quickly realized that such an endeavor would likely entail several separate articles on various relevant subtopics. I may yet decide to undertake such a series, but for now, I’ll just make this version available for anyone who is so inclined. Here it is: Decoherence in Photosynthetic Energy Transfer
Min 2011 Human contribution to more-intense precipitation extremes, Zhang, X., Zwiers, F. W., & Hegerl, G. C. (2011). Human contribution to more-intense precipitation extremes. Nature, 470(7334), 378-381.
