Data e Ora: 
Thursday, December 4, 2014 - 15:30
Luogo: 
Aula Magna ‘A. Lepschy’
Relatore: 
Prof. Elisabetta Collini
Descrizione: 

One of the most surprising and significant advances in the study of the photosynthetic light- harvesting process is the discovery that the electronic energy transfer might involve long-lived electronic coherences, also at physiologically relevant conditions. This means that the transfer of energy among different chromophores does not follow the expected classical incoherent hopping mechanism, but that quantum-mechanical laws can steer the migration of energy. The implications of such quantum transport regime, although currently under debate, might have a tremendous impact in our way to think about natural and artificial light-harvesting and suggest new directions for the development of artificial devices for the efficient capture and re-use of solar energy. Central to these discoveries has been the development of new ultrafast spectroscopic techniques, in particular two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy, which is now the primary tool to obtain clear and definitive experimental proof of such effects. The possibility of engineer quantum mechanics in artificial systems not only has inspired new guidelines for the design of artificial photosynthetic systems, but also has opened a revolutionary way for the effective use of biological systems and conjugated polymers as quantum devices and quantum resources for signal processing. For example, we have proven that 2D maps can be used to generate multivariate and parallel logic processes.

Affiliazione: 
Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Padova