Photoisomerization in a Dissipative Environment

TL;DR

This paper explores how different types of dissipative environments affect photoisomerization in molecules, revealing that entanglement can induce a quantum phase transition impacting the molecule's shape change upon light absorption.

Contribution

It introduces a spin-boson model to distinguish environmental effects on photoisomerization, highlighting the role of entanglement in quantum phase transitions.

Findings

Environment causes a blue shift and reduces efficiency without entanglement.

Entanglement leads to a quantum phase transition affecting photoisomerization.

Different environmental interactions significantly alter molecular photoresponse.

Abstract

We investigate photoisomerization (PI), the shape change of a molecule upon photoabsorption, in a dissipative environment using a simple spin-boson model. We identify two classes of environment depending on whether it "entangles" with the molecule. In the absence of entanglement, the environment merely causes a blue shift of the required photon frequency and reduces the quantum efficiency of PI. With entanglement the molecule can undergo a quantum phase transition between a state that photoisomerizes to a state that does not.