Abstract
Thermal light sources can produce photons with strong spatial correlations. We study the role that these correlations might potentially play in bacterial photosynthesis. Our findings show a relationship between the transversal distance between consecutive absorptions and the efficiency of the photosynthetic process. Furthermore, membranes where the clustering of core complexes (so-called RC-LH1) is high, display a range where the organism profits maximally from the spatial correlation of the incoming light. By contrast, no maximum is found for membranes with low core-core clustering. We employ a detailed membrane model with state-of-the-art empirical inputs. Our results suggest that the organization of the membrane's antenna complexes may be well-suited to the spatial correlations present in an natural light source. Future experiments will be needed to test this prediction.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 957-960 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Results in Physics |
Volume | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2016 |
Keywords
- Photo-bunching
- Photosynthesis
- Purple bacteria
- Spatial correlation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy(all)