We provide an historical perspective of how the notion of correlations has evolved within quantum physics. We begin by reviewing Shannons information theory and its first application in quantum physics, due to Everett, in explaining the information c
onveyed during a quantum measurement. This naturally leads us to Lindblads information theoretic analysis of quantum measurements and his emphasis of the difference between the classical and quantum mutual information. After briefly summarising the quantification of entanglement using these and related ideas, we arrive at the concept of quantum discord that naturally captures the boundary between entanglement and classical correlations. Finally we discuss possible links between discord and the generation of correlations in thermodynamic transformations of coupled harmonic oscillators.
We study the statistics of the work done, the fluctuation relations and the irreversible entropy production in a quantum many-body system subject to the sudden quench of a control parameter. By treating the quench as a thermodynamic transformation we
show that the emergence of irreversibility in the nonequilibrium dynamics of closed many-body quantum systems can be accurately characterized. We demonstrate our ideas by considering a transverse quantum Ising model that is taken out of equilibrium by the instantaneous switching of the transverse field.
Many biological electron transfer (ET) reactions are mediated by metal centres in proteins. NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) contains an intramolecular chain of seven iron-sulphur (FeS) clusters, one of the longest chains of metal centres i
n biology and a test case for physical models of intramolecular ET. In biology, intramolecular ET is commonly described as a diffusive hopping process, according to the semi-classical theories of Marcus and Hopfield. However, recent studies have raised the possibility that non-trivial quantum mechanical effects play a functioning role in certain biomolecular processes. Here, we extend the semi-classical model for biological ET to incorporate both semi-classical and coherent quantum phenomena using a quantum master equation based on the Holstein Hamiltonian. We test our model on the structurally-defined chain of FeS clusters in complex I. By exploring a wide range of realistic parameters we find that, when the energy profile for ET along the chain is relatively flat, just a small coherent contribution can provide a robust and significant increase in ET rate (above the semi-classical diffusive-hopping rate), even at physiologically-relevant temperatures. Conversely, when the on-site energies vary significantly along the chain the coherent contribution is negligible. For complex I, a crucial respiratory enzyme that is linked to many neuromuscular and degenerative diseases, our results suggest a new contribution towards ensuring that intramolecular ET does not limit the rate of catalysis. For the emerging field of quantum biology, our model is intended as a basis for elucidating the general role of coherent ET in biological ET reactions.
