Photosynthesis and Quantum Coherence

Quantum Coherence is the two or more physical systems found in a similar quantum state. Numerous studies have reported that quantum coherence plays a significant role in biology and the biological system such as photosynthesis. As such, interest in understanding the correlation between quantum coherence and effect on biological systems have gained momentum in biology. Consequentially, scientists have conducted investigations to determine the quantum coherence phenomena as a means in regulating and controlling the transport energy in photosynthesis.

Quantum Coherence in Biological Systems: Photosynthesis

According to the study done by Salari (2011), quantum coherence plays a significant role in light-initiated responses in molecular elements in photosynthetic organisms. The excitations of the photosynthetic quantum conditions supporting well-defined stage relations for an adequate time to impact on the transportation within the molecular scale (Lloyd, 2011). Energy transfers through the dipolar interaction between chromophores -Foster coupling phenomena- where induced dipoles lead to the excitation of one chromophore while the neighboring chromophore is de-excited (Olaya-castro et al., 2012). In other words, according to Sarangam Majumdar (2016), quantum mechanics controls the transmission of energy transport throughout the chromophores.   To document the process a research team in Berkley located that femtosecond 2D spectroscopy can be used through its four-wave mixing technique to quantify quantum coherence (Nathan et al., 2009). Based on the study, the team identified that at 77k the spectroscopic signature revealed undisputable results signifying quantum beating at room temperature (Vattay et al., 2014).

Conclusion

Quantum coherence is evidential in biological process photosynthesis through electronic excitations of the chromophores as displayed in studies. The evolution in scientific studies indicates that molecular elements in photosynthetic organisms. The light-initiated responses are visible through quantum coherence measurements under chemical reactions. Therefore, it is safe to predispose that biology does use quantum coherence.

References

 Alexandra Olaya-Castro, Ahsan Nazir, & Graham R. Fleming, 2012. Quantum-coherent energy transfer: implications for biology and new energy technologies. Journal of Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci, pp. 3613-3617.

Gabor Vattay, Stuart Kauffman, & Samuli Niiranen, 2014. Quantum Biology on the Edge of Quantum Chaos.

Lloyd, S., 2011. Quantum coherence in biological systems. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, pp. 1-6.

Nathan A. Mathew, Lena A. Yurs, Stephen B. Block, Andrei V. Pakoulev, Kathryn M. Kornau and John C. Wright, 2009. Multiple Quantum Coherence Spectroscopy. Journal of Physical Chemistry, 111(33), pp. 9261-9265.

Salari, V., Tuszynski, J., Rahnama, M., & Bernroider, G., 2011. Plausibility of Quantum Coherent States in Biological Systems. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, pp. 1-10.

Sarangam Majumdar, & Sukla Pal, 2016. Quantum Coherence: A New Aspect to Probe the Quorum Sensing. 5(4).