title: Relation between Dephasing Time and Energy Gap Fluctuations in Biomolecular Systems.
abstract: Excitation energy and charge transfer are fundamental processes in biological systems. Because of their quantum nature, the effect of dephasing on these processes is of interest especially when trying to understand their efficiency. Moreover, recent experiments have shown quantum coherences in such systems. As a first step toward a better understanding, we studied the relationship between dephasing time and energy gap fluctuations of the individual molecular subunits. A larger set of molecular simulations has been investigated to shed light on this dependence. This set includes bacterio-chlorophylls in Fenna-Matthews-Olson complexes, the PE545 aggregate, the LH2 complexes, DNA, photolyase, and cryptochromes. For the individual molecular subunits of these aggregates it has been confirmed quantitatively that an inverse proportionality exists between dephasing time and average gap energy fluctuation. However, for entire complexes including the respective intermolecular couplings, such a relation still needs to be verified.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen , Campus Ring 1, 28759 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Maria Ilaria
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Mallus
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen , Campus Ring 1, 28759 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Mortaza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aghtar
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen , Campus Ring 1, 28759 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Suryanarayanan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chandrasekaran
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physical Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology , 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Gesa
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lüdemann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physical Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology , 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elstner
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen , Campus Ring 1, 28759 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kleinekathöfer
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000737:chemistry*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D056931:Cryptochromes / Q000737:chemistry*; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D004255:Deoxyribodipyrimidine Photo-Lyase / Q000737:chemistry*; D004735:Energy Transfer; D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011789:Quantum Theory
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D056931:Cryptochromes; C086320:FMO bacteriochlorophyll protein, Bacteria; D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; D004247:DNA; D004255:Deoxyribodipyrimidine Photo-Lyase