Comparison Of Quantum Dissipation Approaches And Application On The Energy Transfer Process In Light-harvesting Systems

The thesis starts from the basic formalism of quantum mechanics and the funda-mental knowledge of spectroscopy. We then introduce several approximate approachesof quantum dissipation theory. The results of these methods are compared to the exactlinear absorption of two-state systems. Finally, we simulate the energy transfer dy-namics in Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO), a photosynthetic pigment-protein complexin the reaction center of photosynthesis, and study its characteristics at physiologicaltemperature .In Chapter 1, we first introduce some fundamentals of quantum mechanics, includ-ing the Schro¨dinger equation and the Liouville equation in either the Hilbert space orthe Liouville space. Then we summarize some backgroud knowledge of spectroscopy.In Chapter 2, we introduce the approximate quantum dissipation methods.In Chapter 3, we consider the so-called complete second-order quantum dissipa-tion theories, in either the chronological ordering prescription or the correlated driving-dissipation form. Analytical results can be derived for the linear absorption of two-statesystems. Assessments on their applicability are then made by comparison to the exactresults.In Chapter 4, we simulate the dynamics processes of the energy transfer in FMO.In Chapter 5, we summarize the thesis, and comment on the future work concern-ing both the theoretical and application aspects of quantum dissipation theory.