Can Quantum Mechanical Effects Control Dynamics in Light-Interacting Biological Systems?

Project funded by Swedish Research Council (Project grant), grant 2010-05057_VR. Participating organisations named by the source: Lund University. Funded amount: SEK 1,800,000, as stated by the source. Runs 2011-01-01 to 2013-12-31. Keywords: Oklassificerat, Unclassified. Source: OpenAIRE Graph, from the funder's project data (collected by OpenAIRE on 2025-12-05); national funding data, not CORDIS. Abstract given by the source: Recent multidimensional optical studies showed that quantum superposition of excited states or coherences can survive in light-harvesting systems for long times. This opens the possibility that quantum effects may dictate the nature of energy flow in photosynthetic systems, which power nearly all life on earth. Coherent or wave-like energy transfer implies a very different mechanism from classical hopping of excitations. Quantum mechanical effects can potentially make energy transfer more efficient and robust. The goal of this project is to address the question of whether coherences play a key role in the photosynthetic functions of light collection and transfer. Proof that coherences control the energy transfer would require re-evaluation of the currently accepted picture of primary photosynthetic functions. Also it would open a world of new possibilities in designing and controlling light-driven molecular devices. We aim at a systematic study of quantum dynamics effects and their relation to function in light-driven biological systems and artificial aggregates. Population energy transfer pathways will be investigated in parallel to provide insights into the relationship between wave-like and hopping-type energy migration. The method of choice is coherent two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy, which is especially well suited for studying complex light-interacting systems. The technique is sensitive to electronic couplings and is capable of revealing coherence dynamics.

Original source.

Source: OpenAIRE Graph: projects of national funders, OpenAIRE, from the project data of Swedish Research Council. Retrieved 2026-10-28. Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (OpenAIRE Graph). Selected metadata, adapted presentation; the publisher's record is authoritative. No endorsement by the source is implied. Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).

AI-assisted summary: The project, funded by the Swedish Research Council with SEK 1,800,000, investigates the role of quantum mechanical effects in energy transfer within photosynthetic systems. It ran from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2013, involving Lund University. Suggested technology pillar: sensing. Generated by AI from the public source text; it may contain errors and the original source is authoritative.