Long-Lived Quantum Coherence Enables Near-Unity Photosynthetic Exciton Transfer at Physiological Temperature — E8 Intelligence Research

FINDING: Photosynthetic exciton transfer in FMO/LH2 pigment-protein complexes exhibits long-lived quantum coherence at physiological temperature, enabling near-unity energy transfer efficiency across ~10 nm. MATH: - Exciton Hamiltonian: H = Σᵢ εᵢ|i⟩⟨i| + Σᵢⱼ Jᵢⱼ|i⟩⟨j|, where Jᵢⱼ is dipole-dipole coupling - Coupling: Jᵢⱼ ∝ (μᵢ·μⱼ - 3(μᵢ·r̂ᵢⱼ)(μⱼ·r̂ᵢⱼ))/rᵢⱼ³ - Coherence lifetime: τ_coh ~ 300–660 fs (2D electronic spectroscopy, Engel et al. 2007) - Energy transfer efficiency: η ≈ 0.95–0.99 (vs. classical random walk ~0.5–0.7) - Redfield/Förster rates: k = 2π/ℏ |V|² J(ω) - Dephasing time T₂ vs. transfer time: optimal when T₂ ≈ τ_transfer (environment-assisted quantum transport, ENAQT regime) CONNECTION: - Pigment arrangements in FMO follow near-icosahedral / C3-symmetric packing (8 BChl a in two layers); LH2 exhibits C9 rotational symmetry (9-fold ring) — crystallographic point group symmetry C9 and C3. - Inter-pigment distances ~1.0–1.5 nm produce coupling ratios J/ε ~ 0.1–0.3, placin Author: Andrew Stewart Caldin, Independent Researcher, UK. Part of the E8 Intelligence Research series. Platform: e8intelligence.com