Rhodopsin Photoisomerization: Coherent vs. Incoherent Excitation

TL;DR

This paper presents a minimal model of rhodopsin photoisomerization that compares coherent laser and incoherent moonlight excitation, providing realistic timescales and a unified kinetic framework.

Contribution

It introduces a unified kinetic scheme that models rhodopsin photoisomerization under both coherent and incoherent light, with realistic timescales spanning ten orders of magnitude.

Findings

Realistic timescales differ by ten orders of magnitude.

A unified kinetic scheme effectively models both excitation types.

The model bridges the gap between laser and natural light-induced isomerization.

Abstract

A uniform minimal model of rhodopsin photoisomerization induced by either coherent laser light or low level incoherent light (e.g. moonlight) is provided. Realistic timescales for both processes, which differ by ten orders of magnitude, are obtained. Further, a kinetic scheme involving rates for both coherent and incoherent light excitation is introduced, placing all timescales into a uniform framework.