Quantum measurement corrections to CIDNP in photosynthetic reaction centers

Chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization is a signature of spin order appearing in many photosynthetic reaction centers. Such polarization, significantly enhanced above thermal equilibrium, is known to result from the nuclear spin sorting inherent in the radical pair mechanism underlying long...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNew journal of physics Vol. 15; no. 7; pp. 75017 - 13
Main Author Kominis, Iannis K
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published IOP Publishing 18.07.2013
Subjects
Dynamics
Exploration
Geomagnetic fields
Nuclear spin
Photosynthesis
Polarization
Radicals
Reactions (nuclear)
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Summary:Chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization is a signature of spin order appearing in many photosynthetic reaction centers. Such polarization, significantly enhanced above thermal equilibrium, is known to result from the nuclear spin sorting inherent in the radical pair mechanism underlying long-lived charge-separated states in photosynthetic reaction centers. We will show here that the recently understood fundamental quantum dynamics of radical-ion-pair reactions open up a new and completely unexpected pathway toward obtaining chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization signals. The fundamental decoherence mechanism inherent in the recombination process of radical pairs is shown to produce nuclear spin polarizations of the order of 104 times (or more) higher than the thermal equilibrium value at the Earth's magnetic field relevant to natural photosynthesis. This opens up the possibility of a fundamentally new exploration of the biological significance of high nuclear polarizations in photosynthesis.
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ISSN:1367-2630
1367-2630
DOI:10.1088/1367-2630/15/7/075017