Physicists discover new properties of energy transport in
experiments on “atomic giants”
By realising an artificial quantum system, physicists at
Heidelberg University have simulated key processes of photosynthesis on a
quantum level with high spatial and temporal resolution. In their experiment
with Rydberg atoms the team of Prof. Dr. Matthias Weidemüller and Dr. Shannon
Whitlock discovered new properties of energy transport. This work is an
important step towards answering the question of how quantum physics can
contribute to the efficiency of energy conversion in synthetic systems, for
example in photovoltaics. The new discoveries, which were made at the Center
for Quantum Dynamics and the Institute for Physics of Heidelberg University,
have now been published in the journal “Science”.