Time-resolved role of coherence and delocalization in photosynthetic energy transfer from an extended exciton model

Abstract

Photosynthetic antenna complexes achieve high quantum efficiency through exciton transport in coupled pigment networks. Conventional Frenkel-exciton models treat each chromophore as a structureless site and neglect internal electronic degrees of freedom that can influence coherence and delocalization. Here we develop an extended excitonic network model that preserves the pigment-pigment coupling topology while introducing tunable intrachromophoric electronic mixing within the single-excitation manifold. Using a Lindblad open-quantum-system framework, we quantify coherence, delocalization, and trapping efficiency across parameter space. We show that intrachromophoric mixing plays a time-dependent role: enhanced mixing on the antenna side promotes short-time coherent delocalization and improves excitation injection, whereas excessive mixing near the trapping site induces persistent delocalization and suppresses transfer efficiency. Simulated two-dimensional electronic spectra reveal enhanced cross peaks and systematic blue shifts, providing spectroscopic signatures of coherence-modulated transport. These results establish a microscopic connection between internal electronic structure and quantum transport performance in excitonic networks.