Scientists find link between photosynthesis and 'fifth state of matter'

Potentially, harnessing photosynthesis (a marvel of evolution) could solve most of our global energy needs!

"... The study ... found links at the atomic level between photosynthesis and exciton condensates—a strange state of physics that allows energy to flow frictionlessly through a material [at room temperature]. ...
In fact, it looked very much like the behavior in a material that is known as a Bose-Einstein condensate, sometimes known as "the fifth state of matter." In this material, excitons can link up into the same quantum state—kind of like a set of bells all ringing perfectly in tune. This allows energy to move around the material with zero friction. ..."

"... This was a huge surprise. Exciton condensates have only been seen when the material is cooled down significantly below room temperature. It’d be kind of like seeing ice cubes forming in a cup of hot coffee. ..."

From the abstract:

"Bose-Einstein condensation of excitons, in which excitons condense into a single coherent quantum state, known as an exciton condensate, enables frictionless energy transfer, but typically occurs under extreme conditions in highly ordered materials, such as graphene double layers. In contrast, photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes demonstrate extremely efficient transfer of energy in disordered systems under ambient conditions. Here, we establish a link between the two phenomena by investigating the potential for exciton-condensate-like amplification of energy transport in room-temperature light harvesting. Using a model of the Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex and accounting for intrachromophore electron correlation explicitly through the addition of multiple sites to the individual chromophores, we observe amplification of the exciton population in the particle-hole reduced density matrix through an exciton-condensate-like mechanism. The exciton-condensate-like amplification evolves with the dynamics of exciton transfer, and the nature of amplification is influenced by intra- and interchromophore entanglement, as well as the initial excitation model and number of sites per chromophore. Tuning intrachromophore coupling also increases the rate of exciton transfer with a maximum enhancement of nearly 100%. The research provides fundamental connections between exciton condensation and exciton transport in light-harvesting complexes with potential applications for harnessing the exciton-condensate-like mechanism to enhance energy transfer in synthetic systems and create new materials capable of highly efficient energy transfer."

Scientists find link between photosynthesis and 'fifth state of matter'

Scientists find link between photosynthesis and ‘fifth state of matter’ (original news release from the University of Chicago) UChicago scientists hope ‘islands’ of exciton condensation may point way to new discoveries

Exciton-Condensate-Like Amplification of Energy Transport in Light Harvesting (open access)

FIG. 1. Two pathways represented by the two sites of each chromophore.