Retrodictive derivation of the radical-ion-pair master equation and Monte-Carlo simulation with single-molecule quantum trajectories

Abstract

Radical-ion-pair reactions, central in photosynthesis and the avian magnetic compass mechanism, have recently shown to be a paradigm system for applying quantum information science in a biochemical setting. The fundamental quantum master equation describing radical-ion-pair reactions is still under debate. We here use quantum retrodiction to produce a rigorous refinement of the theory put forward in Phys. Rev. E {\bf 83}, 056118 (2011). We also provide a rigorous analysis of the measure of singlet-triplet coherence required for deriving the radical-pair master equation. A Monte-Carlo simulation with single-molecule quantum trajectories supports the self-consistency of our approach.

12 pages, 8 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Quantum Zeno dynamics: mathematical and physical aspects
• Spin-selective reactions of radical pairs act as quantum measurements
• Quantum coherence and sensitivity of avian magnetoreception
• Characterizing Quantum Properties of a Measurement Apparatus: Insights from the Retrodictive Approach

Cited by in corpus (6)

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• Observations about utilitarian coherence in the avian compass
• Quantum relative entropy shows singlet-triplet coherence is a resource in the radical-pair mechanism of biological magnetic sensing
• Quantum Information Processing in the Radical-Pair Mechanism: Haberkorn theory violates the Ozawa entropy bound
• Physiological search for quantum biological effects based on the Wigner-Yanase connection between coherence and uncertainty
• Dark state population determines magnetic sensitivity in radical pair magnetoreception model