Excitation energy transfer (EET) and electron transfer (ET) are crucially involved in photosynthetic processes. In reality, the photosynthetic reaction center constitutes an open quantum system of EET and ET, which manifests an interplay of pigments, solar light and phonon baths. So far theoretical studies have been mainly based on master equation approaches in the Markovian condition. The non-Markovian environmental effect, which may play a crucial role, has not been sufficiently considered. In this work, we propose a mixed dynamic approach to investigate this open system. The influence of phonon bath is treated via the exact dissipaton equation of motion (DEOM) while that of photon bath is via the Lindblad master equation. Specifically, we explore the effect of non-Markovian quantum phonon bath on the coherent transfer dynamics and its manipulation on the current--voltage behavior. Distinguished from the results of completely Markovian Lindblad equation and those adopting classical environment description, the mixed DEOM--Lindblad simulations exhibittransfer coherence up to a few hundreds femtosecondsand the related environmental manipulation effect on current.These non-Markovian quantum coherent effects may be extended tomore complex and realistic systems and be helpful to thedesign of organic photovoltaic devices.
Nanothermodynamics is the thermodynamics of small systems, which are significantly affected by their surrounding environments. In nanothermodynamics, Hill introduced the concept of subdivision potential, which charaterizes the non-extensiveness. In this work, we establish the quantum thermodynamic integration of the subdivision potential, which is identified to be proportional to the difference between the thermal and von Neumann entropies, focusing on its temperaturedependence. As a result, it serves as a versatile tool to help analyze the origin of non-extensiveness in nanosystems.
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