Photo-activated biological processes as quantum measurements
Quantum Physics
2015-06-22 v1 Biological Physics
Biomolecules
Abstract
We outline a framework for describing photo-activated biological reactions as generalized quantum measurements of external fields, for which the biological system takes on the role of a quantum meter. By using general arguments regarding the Hamiltonian that describes the measurement interaction, we identify the cases where it is essential for a complex chemical or biological system to exhibit non-equilibrium quantum coherent dynamics in order to achieve the requisite functionality. We illustrate the analysis by considering measurement of the solar radiation field in photosynthesis and measurement of the earth's magnetic field in avian magnetoreception.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1408.5798,
title = {Photo-activated biological processes as quantum measurements},
author = {Atac Imamoglu and K. Birgitta Whaley},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1408.5798},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
9 pages, 2 figures