Thursday, January 10, 2013

1301.1809 (I. K. Kominis)

Quantum measurement corrections to chemically induced dynamic nuclear
polarization
   [PDF]

I. K. Kominis
Chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization has emerged as a universal signature of spin order in 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 here show that the recently understood fundamental quantum dynamics of radical-ion-pair reactions open up a new and completely unexpected venue towards obtaining CIDNP signals. The fundamental decoherence mechanism inherent in the recombination process of radical pairs is shown to produce nuclear spin polarizations on the order of $10^4$ times or more higher than thermal equilibrium values at low fields relevant to natural photosynthesis in earth's magnetic field. This opens up the possibility of a fundamentally new exploration of the biological significance of high nuclear polarizations in photosynthesis.
View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1301.1809

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