Crossover from quantum to classical transport

TL;DR

This paper explores the transition from quantum to classical transport phenomena, highlighting how coherence loss influences transport properties and its implications for technology and biological systems.

Contribution

It provides an introductory overview of charge and energy transport in quantum and classical regimes, emphasizing the crossover physics and its significance.

Findings

Identification of key features of the quantum-classical crossover

Connection between transport regimes through coherence loss

Implications for biological energy transport efficiency

Abstract

Understanding the crossover from quantum to classical transport phenomena has become of fundamental importance not only for technological applications due to the creation of sub-10nm transistors - an important building block of our modern life - but also for elucidating the role played by quantum mechanics in the evolutionary fitness of biological complexes. This article provides a basic introduction into the nature of charge and energy transport in the quantum and classical regimes. It discusses the characteristic transport properties in both limits, and demonstrates how they can be connected through the loss of quantum mechanical coherence. The salient features of the crossover physics are identified, and their importance in opening new transport regimes and in understanding efficient and robust energy transport in biological complexes are demonstrated.