The FMO Complex in a Glycerol-Water Mixture

Experimental findings of long-lived quantum coherence in the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) complex and other photosynthetic complexes have led to theoretical studies searching for an explanation of this unexpected phenomenon. Extending in this regard our own earlier calculations, we performed simulations of the FMO complex in a glycerol-water mixture at 310 K as well as 77 K, matching the conditions of earlier 2D spectroscopic experiments by Engel et al. The calculations, based on an improved quantum procedure employed by us already, yielded spectral densities of each individual pigment of FMO, in water and glycerol-water solvents at ambient temperature that compare well to prior experimental estimates. Due to the slow solvent dynamics at 77 K, the present results strongly indicate the presence of static disorder, i.e., disorder on a time scale beyond that relevant for the construction of spectral densities.