Quantizing Photosynthesis

Synopsis

Despite certain quantum concepts, such as superposition states, entanglement, ‘spooky action at a distance’ and tunnelling through insulating walls, being somewhat counterintuitive, they are no doubt extremely useful constructs in theoretical and experimental physics. More uncertain, however, is whether these concepts are fundamental to the biology and, the Life. Of course, at the foundation of everything lies quantum physics.

In this presentation, I will talk about the current understanding of Photosynthesis, from quantum view. Photosynthesis is a highly optimized process from which valuable lessons can be learned about the operating principles of nature. Its primary steps involve energy transport. Recently, it was hypothesized that nature uses quantum coherence to directly transfer energy. The observed long-lived coherences originate from impulsively excited vibrations, generally observed in femtosecond spectroscopy.