Home▸Molecular Biology▸Light-Harvesting Antenna (2D): Exciton Hopping & Exact Trapping Probability

Light-Harvesting Antenna (2D): Exciton Hopping & Exact Trapping Probability

Interactive 2D model of a photosynthetic antenna complex: excitons hop across a hexagonal pigment lattice by Forster resonance energy transfer down an energetic funnel toward the reaction center, while an exact absorbing-Markov-chain solver computes the true trapping probability of every pigment in real time alongside the live Monte Carlo simulation.

Molecular Biology2DAdvanced60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

This 2D simulator models the same photosynthetic light-harvesting phenomenon as the 3D antenna simulator — chlorophyll pigments arranged around a reaction center, with excitons hopping between them by Förster resonance energy transfer down an energetic funnel — but computes it two independent ways at once: a Gillespie continuous-time Monte Carlo simulation of individual excitons, and an exact absorbing-Markov-chain solve for every pigment's true trapping probability. Watch the Monte Carlo yield converge toward the exact analytic value as more excitons are simulated, and see how light intensity, antenna size, Förster coupling and NPQ quenching reshape the probability heatmap across the lattice.

⚙ Under the hood

Watch excitons hop across a hexagonal chlorophyll lattice by Forster resonance energy transfer down an energetic funnel toward the reaction center, while an exact absorbing-Markov-chain solver computes every pigment's true trapping probability live alongside the Monte Carlo simulation.

photosynthesisFRETchlorophyllmolecular biologyexcitonphotobiologyMarkov chainMonte Carlo

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install