2008/08/31 by Michael Thorwart, J. Eckel, Jens Eckel +5 · 2 citations
Computer Science · Neuroscience · Physics and Astronomy · #Photoreceptor and optogenetics research #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.soft #physics.bio-ph #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.cplett.2009.07.053
published as Chem. Phys. Lett. 478, 234 (2009) · online-published version, minor modifications
openalex publication_date 2009/07/24 · arxiv created 2009/08/03 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We show that quantum coherence of biomolecular excitons is maintained over exceedingly long times due to the constructive role of their non-Markovian protein-solvent environment. Using a numerically exact approach, we demonstrate that a slow quantum bath helps to sustain quantum entanglement of two pairs of Forster coupled excitons, in contrast to a Markovian environment. We consider the crossover from a fast to a slow bath and from weak to strong dissipation and show that a slow bath can generate robust entanglement. This persists to surprisingly high temperatures, even higher than the excitonic gap and is absent for a Markovian bath.