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Center for Excitonics
Seminar Series Announcement
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
3:00 PM
RLE Conference Room: 36-428
Speaker: Thomas Renger, Johannes Kepler Universitat - Linz, Austria
"Theory of light-harvesting in photosynthesis: from structure to function"
Abstract In photosynthesis, light energy absorbed in
light-harvesting pigment-protein complexes is transferred via an exciton
mechanism to the reaction center where it is used to drive electron transfer
reactions. The quantum efficiency of the transfer is close to 100 percent,
that is, almost all excitons created reach the reaction center. In order to
bridge the gap between the crystal structures of these light-harvesting
proteins and optical experiments probing their function, two essential
problems need to be solved. On one hand, theories of optical spectra and
excitation energy transfer have to be developed that take into account the
pigment-pigment (excitonic) and the pigment-protein (exciton-vibrational)
coupling on an equal footing. On the other hand, the parameters entering
these theories need to be calculated from the structural data. I will give a
summary of recent approaches to solve the above problems and discuss
applications on different light-harvesting and reaction center complexes
revealing different strategies for efficient light-harvesting.
Bio Born 1970 in Zittau (Germany). Study of physics at
Humboldt-University Berlin (Germany), diploma (master degree) 1995, 1998 PhD
degree in theoretical physics. 1999-2001 Feodor Lynen research scholar of
Alexander von Humboldt-foundation at California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena (USA). 2002-2009 head of junior research group (Emmy-Noether
program of German Research Foundation) at Free University Berlin (Germany),
institute of chemistry and biochemistry. Since 2009 head of division
Theoretical Biophysics at Johannes Kepler University, Linz (Austria).
Research Theory of charge and excitation energy transfer and optical
spectra of biological macromolecules, dynamical theory and its
parametrization by quantum chemical/electrostatic methods and molecular
dynamics simulations. More detailed information can be found at:
<http://www.jku.at/itp/content/e61104/>
http://www.jku.at/itp/content/e61104/
Light refreshments will be served
The Center for Excitonics is an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by
the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science and Office of Basic