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Bose-Einstein condensation of excitons, with its potential for frictionless energy transport, has recently been observed in materials at low temperatures. Here, we show that partial exciton condensation plays a significant role in the 18-chromophore B850 ring of the light-harvesting complex 2 (LH2) in purple bacteria. Even in the single-excitation regime, we observe that excitonic entanglement across multiple sites exhibits signatures of exciton condensation in the particle-hole reduced density matrix—a partial exciton condensate. Crucially, we find that, by distributing the exciton across multiple sites of the ring, the exciton-condensate-like state sets favorable conditions for enhanced energy transfer, both before and after decoherence. Surprisingly, this discovery reveals that excitonic condensation, previously thought to require extreme conditions, can occur in a partial form in biological systems under ambient conditions, providing new insight into energy transport. These results additionally bring new insight into the long-standing debate on quantum versus classical mechanisms in photosynthetic light harvesting by showing that quantum coherence, in the form of a partial exciton condensate, indirectly initializes subsequent classical transfer. Our findings not only deepen our understanding of quantum coherence in light harvesting but also suggest design principles for materials capable of leveraging excitonic entanglement for efficient energy transport. Published by the American Physical Society2025
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Superconductor to exciton condensate transition in a model copper-oxide material
Abstract Superconductivity and exciton condensation are fundamental phenomena in condensed matter physics, associated with the condensation of electron–electron and electron–hole pairs, respectively, into coherent quantum states. In this study, we present evidence of a superconductor to exciton condensate transition within the context of the three-band Hubbard model of copper-oxide-like materials. As the electron–electron repulsion increases, the superconducting phase is superseded by exciton condensation. In support of theoretical predictions—not yet realized experimentally—we observe the coexistence of the two condensates in the vicinity of the transition where the quantum states become a superposition of electron–electron and electron–hole condensates. Coexistence is rigorously computed from large eigenvalues and their eigenvectors in both the two-electron reduced density matrix (2-RDM) and the particle-hole RDM, which we obtain from a direct variational ground-state energy minimization with respect to the 2-RDM by semidefinite programming. We further discern that adjacentdorbitals and interveningporbitals facilitate electron–electron pairing between copper orbitals, thereby supporting the superexchange mechanism for superconductivity. These observations suggest the feasibility of witnessing a superconductor to exciton condensate transition in copper-oxide analogs, bearing significant implications for identifying materials conducive to efficient transport processes.
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- PAR ID:
- 10562362
- Publisher / Repository:
- IOP Publishing
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- New Journal of Physics
- Volume:
- 26
- Issue:
- 12
- ISSN:
- 1367-2630
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 123029
- Size(s):
- Article No. 123029
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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