RQC Seminar

31st RQC Seminar

• Speaker

  Prof. Pulak Kumar Ghosh
  (Department of chemistry, Presidency University)

• Date

  16:00-17:00 (JST), March 16, 2023 (Thursday)

• Venue

  Hybrid (Zoom / 2F Large Conference Room, Admin. Headquarters Bldg. RIKEN Wako branch)

• Title

  Quantum effects in photosynthesis

• Inquiries

  rqc_info[at]ml.riken.jp

Abstract
The general pathway of energy transduction in the primary stage of photosynthesis was well-known for a long time, but details were limited. 2D electronic spectroscopic and theoretical studies reveal that coherences between electronic states play an important role in exciton-transfer dynamics. Thus, more precise energy-transduction mechanisms have been proposed, but new questions and controversies have arisen. Examples include: the quantitative impacts of quantum coherence in the efficiency of energy transfer, the reason for the long-lasting coherence, and the role of the surrounding protein medium. In this talk I will review features of energy transduction mechanism in natural photosynthetic structures. Experimental (mainly 2D electronic spectroscopy) and theoretical methods which are employed to study energy transduction in photosynthesis will be discussed in detail.