Abstract

Photosynthesis is a biophotonic process in which green plants use solar energy to reduce CO₂ and oxidize H₂O. The first steps of this quantum conversion process most certainly involve the absorption of photons (light) by molecules (e.g. chlorophyll, carotenoide, …) with subsequent charge separation in the chloroplast (dimensions involved in these systems are 1-2 nm). It is not known exactly how the pigments, proteins, etc., are organized to facilitate the quantum conversion process. The first step process of photosynthesis is also not known exactly. For example, the standard theoretical representation of energy bands, which is commonly used to explain the physical parameters of most natural species (green leaves, purple bacteria, etc.), suffers from a basic generally-accepted law: a common energy level (or ground state energy) is assumed for all species and steps involved in the energy transfer process in photosynthesis representations/calculations. A common energy level for a structure made of various species is mostly an accidental situation found in material science. The present accepted model fails also to explain the charges separation caused by an absent electric field. It can even be debated if the main green colour of leaves is an emission or a reflection, or a combination of both. We could imagine that Nature has performed combinatorial synthesis through evolution over 2-4 billions years, using all possible ecological habitats that are permissive of photosynthetic metabolism and has been able to find only one biological blueprint for water splitting (1). Objectively this is the subject of this talk: a proposed model for the physical mechanism of charge separation in photosynthesis.

© 2009 Optical Society of America