Absorption and Circular Dichroism Spectra of Molecular Aggregates With the Full Cumulant Expansion.

ABSTRACT: The exciton Hamiltonian of multichromophoric aggregates can be probed by spectroscopic techniques such as linear absorption and circular dichroism. To compare calculated Hamiltonians to experiments, a lineshape theory is needed, which takes into account the coupling of the excitons with inter- and intramolecular vibrations. This coupling is normally introduced in a perturbative way through the cumulant expansion formalism and further approximated by assuming a Markovian exciton dynamics, for example with the modified Redfield theory. Here, we present the implementation of the full cumulant expansion (FCE) formalism ( J. Chem. Phys. 142, 2015, 094106) to efficiently compute absorption and circular dichroism spectra of molecular aggregates beyond the Markov approximation, without restrictions on the form of exciton-phonon coupling. By employing the LH2 system of purple bacteria as a challenging test case, we compare the FCE lineshapes with the Markovian lineshapes obtained with the modified Redfield theory, showing that the latter presents a less satisfying agreement with experiments. The FCE approach instead accurately describes the lineshapes, especially in the vibronic sideband of the B800 peak. We envision that the FCE approach will become a valuable tool for accurately comparing model exciton Hamiltonians with optical spectroscopy experiments.

SUBMITTER: Cupellini L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7901647 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature