Enhanced quantum entanglement in the non-Markovian dynamics of biomolecular excitons

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that non-Markovian environments can significantly prolong quantum entanglement in biomolecular excitons, even at high temperatures, contrasting with Markovian environments which do not sustain such entanglement.

Contribution

It provides a numerically exact analysis showing how slow, non-Markovian protein-solvent baths enhance and sustain quantum entanglement in biomolecular systems.

Findings

Non-Markovian baths sustain entanglement longer than Markovian baths.

Slow baths generate robust entanglement at high temperatures.

Entanglement persists even when dissipation is strong.

Abstract

We show that quantum coherence of biomolecular excitons is maintained over exceedingly long times due to the constructive role of their non-Markovian protein-solvent environment. Using a numerically exact approach, we demonstrate that a slow quantum bath helps to sustain quantum entanglement of two pairs of Forster coupled excitons, in contrast to a Markovian environment. We consider the crossover from a fast to a slow bath and from weak to strong dissipation and show that a slow bath can generate robust entanglement. This persists to surprisingly high temperatures, even higher than the excitonic gap and is absent for a Markovian bath.