Understanding the correlations in space and time of open quantum systems

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There now exist a suite of different experimental techniques that can be used to image how the excitations of a quantum system change in both space and time. Such methods include transient absorption microscopy, which can probe features of above about 100 nm, and scanning tunnelling microscope luminescence, which can reach features that are smaller than a single molecule. Such techniques are very exciting since they open a new window on how complex quantum mechanical processes work and what their function is in real devices. For example, they allow us to track how absorbed energy moves around in a solar cell, thus enabling us to design more efficient devices. In addition, imaging biomolecules in this way will allows us a greater understanding the fundamental mechanisms of life - and to probe the key role of non-equilibrium dynamics in biology.It is vital then, to develop theoretical tools that are able to model the quantum dynamics of systems like molecules, which are typically strongly coupled to an environment of vibrational modes. Such open quantum systems undergo non-Markovian dynamics, in which the behaviour of a system cannot be predicted from its current state alone. What it has done in the past, too, affects what it will do in the future. We have developed a set of ground-breaking new tools that enable the ultra-efficient modelling of such systems. Our tools are based on tensor networks, and are ideally suited for extracting the kinds of spatio-temporal information that modern experiments are now able to provide. In this project your aim will be to identify and model the signals that are generated in these experiments.In the longer term, this work will help to identify better device designs for solar energy harvesting, In addition, we hope to understand how quantum allostery-i.e. signalling between different parts of a protein that triggers a biological function-works.