Efficient quantum transport in a multi-site system combining classical noise and quantum baths

Abstract

We study the population dynamics and quantum transport efficiency of a multi-site dissipative system driven by a random telegraph noise (RTN) by using a variational polaron master equation for both linear chain and ring configurations. By using two different environment descriptions-RTN only and a thermal bath+RTN-we show that the presence of the classical noise has a non-trivial role on quantum transport. We observe that there exist large areas of parameter space where the combined bath+RTN influence is clearly beneficial for populating the target state of the transport, and for average trapping time and transport efficiency when accounting for the presence of the reaction center via the use of the sink. This result holds for both of the considered intra-site coupling configurations including a chain and ring. In general, our formalism and achieved results provide a platform for engineering and characterizing efficient quantum transport in multi-site systems both for realistic environments and engineered systems.

Quantum transfer through small networks coupled to phonons: effects of topology vs phonons

“…The present study also builds on the work by Kurt et al [46] that examined the effect of Holstein phonons and the work of Mozafari et al [47] that examined the effect of Peierls phonons on energy transfer through small networks. Our intermediate results for phononfree networks or networks with fixed site positions are consistent with previous observations [44].…”

“…As discussed in the introduction, many theoretical studies based on quantum master equation approaches found that Holstein couplings can accelerate the excitation energy transport compared with the purely coherent cases [23,46,57]. These studies always consider a fixed system Hamiltonian coupled with a Holstein bath.…”

“…This work builds on a series of papers that examined the role of the spatial arrangement of FMO sites on exciton transport through photosynthetic aggregates [44][45][46][47]. The work of Scholak et al [44] has also examined in detail the effect of the non-Hermitian sink on the excitation transfer dynamics.…”

Decoherence and classicalization of continuous-time quantum walks on graphs

“…In turn, the thorough characterisation of decoherence effects in CTQWs is a key ingredient for their use in quantum technology and, in particular, to envisage strategies that may mitigate or cancel out noise. Several studies investigated how noise stemming from the interaction between the system and the environment affects the dynamics of quantum walks [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. Different effects may emerge, such as localization, transition toward a classically distributed walker [20,21,23], but also an improvement in excitation transport efficiency [18,19,22,24].…”

Stochastic collision model approach to transport phenomena in quantum networks

“…More recently, however, it has become evident that environmental noise need not be an enemy to the preservation of quantumness [4]. On the contrary, it may sustain the persistence of quantum coherence and, as a consequence, improve the efficiency of quantum transport in complex systems [5][6][7][8][9][10]. In this sense, the initial skepticism on the presence of quantum phenomena in macroscopic "hot and dirty" systems, due to their very short coherence time, has been overcome [11].…”