Hamburg 2009 – scientific programme

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MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik

MO 15: Theorie: Quantenchemie

MO 15.3: Talk

Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 17:15–17:30, VMP 6 HS-F

A first principles scheme to distinguish between Förster and non-Förster excitation energy transfer — •Dirk Hofmann and Stephan Kümmel — Department of Theoretical Physics, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany

Excitation energy transfer is a key process in the light-harvesting mechanism initializing the energy-converting machinery of plants and photosynthetic bacteria. The standard method to interpret experimental data of excitation energy transfer between two molecules separated by a distance R is the so-called Förster theory. This theory considers separated donor and acceptor molecules interacting via a Coulomb interaction that is approximated as a dipole-dipole coupling. One of this theory’s characteristics is a R⁻⁶-dependence of the energy transfer rate. The aim of our work is to describe excitation energy transfer in the framework of Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory with real-time propagation on a real-space grid. This approach allows to go beyond the approximations of the standard (Förster) theory. Therefore, the method can be a valuable tool to distinguish between Förster like and non-Förster like excitation energy transfer.