What is life? In this work, we take life to mean a dynamical tendency to conserve identity for as long as possible. For a single bacterium, identity is carried by its chromosomal DNA code, so the bacterium is alive precisely insofar as it actively maintains a well-defined chromosomal configuration over time and can, in principle, replicate this configuration into progeny. For a multicellular organism, many cells share essentially the same DNA code and behave as a single coherent entity; in that case, life corresponds to the persistence of a common genetic identity across the cellular ensemble, rather than to the survival of any particular cell. Cell duplication in multicellular organisms likewise serves to maintain this dynamical tendency to conserve identity over time. In previous studies we implemented this idea at the multicellular and colonial scale using a classical notion of coherence, in which an organism is represented by a single nonseparable state over the DNA codes of its constituent cells, while a colony is describable as a separable ensemble. Here we apply the same principle to the simplest possible case, a single bacterium, and show that its biological identity can be identified with the coherence of its chromosomal DNA code within an abstract state space. We then introduce a Fock-space representation in which bacteria carrying given codes occupy fermionic modes, and replication, repair, and death are realized as elementary operators acting on these modes. Within this framework we define the lifetime of a unicellular organism as the integral coherence time of a code-occupation autocorrelation function and, in a minimal Markovian model, obtain a compact expression in which the lifetime coincides with the inverse decay rate of the corresponding identity mode.
What is life? In this work, we take life to mean a dynamical tendency to conserve identity for as long as possible. For a single bacterium, identity is carried by its chromosomal DNA code, so the bacterium is alive precisely insofar as it actively maintains a well-defined chromosomal configuration over time and can, in principle, replicate this configuration into progeny. For a multicellular organism, many cells share essentially the same DNA code and behave as a single coherent entity; in that case, life corresponds to the persistence of a common genetic identity across the cellular ensemble, rather than to the survival of any particular cell. Cell duplication in multicellular organisms likewise serves to maintain this dynamical tendency to conserve identity over time. In previous studies we implemented this idea at the multicellular and colonial scale using a classical notion of coherence, in which an organism is represented by a single nonseparable state over the DNA codes of its constituent cells, while a colony is describable as a separable ensemble. Here we apply the same principle to the simplest possible case, a single bacterium, and show that its biological identity can be identified with the coherence of its chromosomal DNA code within an abstract state space. We then introduce a Fock-space representation in which bacteria carrying given codes occupy fermionic modes, and replication, repair, and death are realized as elementary operators acting on these modes. Within this framework we define the lifetime of a unicellular organism as the integral coherence time of a code-occupation autocorrelation function and, in a minimal Markovian model, obtain a compact expression in which the lifetime coincides with the inverse decay rate of the corresponding identity mode.
The Unified Theory of Informational Spin (TGU) proposes a radical paradigm: all reality emerges from a single fundamental principle — informational spin coherence — reinterpreting spin not merely as intrinsic angular momentum, but as the primordial operator of information organization across every scale. Starting from a single scalar field equation for informational coherence density ℐ(x,t): ∂ℐ/∂t + ∇·(ℐ v) = −λℐ + S[ℐ] the theory derives, through rigorous limits and discretizations: The ICOER index for microtubule networks (n·C·ε¹²·exp(−S)·Γ, with C ≈ 10⁴ from protofilament structure and exponent 12 from coupling decay) The coupled {I(t), P_met(t)} epigenetic–DNA system exhibiting saddle-node bifurcation at α_crit ≈ 3.45 (life as a phase transition; aging as attractor basin narrowing) The fully unified 3D loop {I, P_met, ICOER} closing the microtubule DNA feedback cycle Part I unifies quantum biology with phase-transition dynamics: consciousness emerges at bilateral supracritical coherence (ICOER > ICOER_c and I > I_instável simultaneously). Part II introduces the informational imprint Ψ — a weighted time-integral of coherence — and demonstrates that the TGU field equation admits self-sustained solitonic solutions when autocoherence exceeds dissipation (γ > λ). The phase space topology (S¹-valued phase θ) allows integer topological charge Q ∈ ℤ configurations, protected against continuous deformations. The Persistence Theorem states: if γ > λ, Ψ₀ > Ψ_c, and Q ≠ 0, the accumulated coherence pattern survives biological collapse indefinitely as a topologically protected soliton — not as a literal copy of the individual, but as the fundamental "melody" (relational structure) of that life's coherence signature. Nine testable predictions span epigenetics, anesthesia, aging biomarkers, high-coherence life effects, and potential cosmological signatures (vacuum topological echoes). This work extends Orch-OR with topology, offers a dark-matter-free gravity alternative (via coherence gradients), and reframes existence philosophically: reality is spin recognizing itself; what coheres persistently cannot be erased from the field's memory.
Time-Scalar Field Theory (TSFT) models time as a physical scalar field whose local structure governs phase evolution, coherence stability, and dynamical persistence across physical systems. Prior work has shown that standard quantum mechanical dynamics emerge as limiting cases of scalar-time continuity, with coherence persistence functioning as a fundamental physical selection principle. In this paper, we demonstrate that life is not an anomalous or teleological outcome of physical law, but an inevitable phase transition arising from sustained coherence under time-scalar compression. We show that passive coherence cannot persist indefinitely in open systems subject to unbounded future perturbations. Long-horizon persistence therefore requires the active preservation of internal informational structure, implying the emergence of observer-like behavior as a physical necessity rather than a metaphysical addition. By formalizing life as coherence that has internalized the observer function—expending energy to preserve preferred eigenstate subspaces against decoherence—we establish a continuous, non-arbitrary bridge from quantum dynamics to biological organization. Life is identified as the physical endpoint of coherence persistence, while biological cognition is interpreted as a specialized coherence-tuning architecture operating within this framework. This work situates life alongside previously identified structural inevitabilities such as π, φ, and prime number emergence, extending the class of unavoidable physical outcomes dictated by constraint, optimization, and persistence under time-scalar dynamics.
• Published in the biology preprint repository bioRxiv, elucidating the principle of 'identity preservation' amidst continuous metabolic processes in biological systems through quantum information. • Based on the Lindblad equation, proposes a mathematical model of a 'sustaining superoperator (S)' that cancels environmental decoherence. • Suppresses entropy production despite material replacement... A quantum interpretation of biological continuity that even explains macroscopic collective many-body tunneling. [Quantum Biology Society] Countless cells, atoms, and molecules that make up our bodies are constantly replaced with new ones. Yet, how do living organisms maintain life without losing their unique identity and resilience? While classical physical chemistry has explained this through structural stability or homeostasis, a theory providing a fundamental answer from the perspective of quantum information has recently emerged and is drawing attention. Recently, a research paper titled "Quantum-Coherent Identity Preservation and Substrate-Invariant Embodiment: A Theoretical Framework for Sustained Pure-State Dynamics in Complex Biological Systems" was published on the biology preprint repository bioRxiv. A research team including Mark I.R. Petalcorin of the UK organization AAIDEA and Mary Ann Ritzell Vega of the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology in the Philippines proposed an innovative mathematical model to solve this puzzle. ■ 'Quantum Identity' Unwavering Despite Continuous Atomic Replacement To explain the phenomenon where informational identity is maintained despite the continuous atomic and molecular replacement (metabolism) of living organisms, the researchers introduced the 'Lindblad equation', which describes open quantum systems. Generally, a quantum system interacting with its environment undergoes decoherence, where the quantum state is broken by the environment, transitioning into a mixed state and increasing von Neumann entropy. However, the researchers proposed a theoretical framework in which a specific sustaining superoperator (S) exists within living organisms that can mathematically exactly cancel this environmental decoherence. ■ The Pure State of Life that Remains Invariant Even if the Material (Substrate) Changes As a result of mathematical model analysis, it was shown that when this sustaining superoperator operates, the quantum coherence and purity of the system are maintained constantly even if the physical material (substrate) constituting the organism is continuously replaced with new atoms. In other words, as quantum mechanical decay is arrested, entropy production is extremely suppressed, enabling substrate-invariant embodiment where the overall quantum informational identity of the system is invariably preserved regardless of changes in its physical basis. Furthermore, the researchers demonstrated that this framework supports macroscopic collective many-body tunneling through sublinear effective-mass scaling, which can explain efficient transport phenomena within living organisms. This achievement holds great academic significance in that it is an outstanding mathematical model that interprets the continuity of life as a mechanism for the continuous maintenance of a pure quantum state, going beyond the existing perspective that interpreted it merely as a macroscopic thermodynamic balance or biochemical ensemble. Experts predict that this new framework will not only explain the remarkable resilience of living organisms at the quantum level but also serve as an important theoretical foundation for designing next-generation biomimetic quantum computing architectures that robustly maintain information against environmental perturbations.
The existence of living organisms in the mesoscopic realm may be quite nontrivial and actuallymay emerge from the interplay between quantum mechanics and gravity. On one side, quantumbiology investigates how quantum mechanical phenomena, such as superposition, entanglement,and tunnelling, contribute to biological processes. These quantum effects, once thought to beirrelevant in the “warm, wet, and noisy” environment of living organisms due to decoherence, havebeen found to play significant roles in various biological systems, from photosynthesis to enzymecatalysis. On the other side, gravitational forces have been implicated in the organization ofmicrotubules, which are essential for maintaining cellular structure and function. Recent studieshave demonstrated that gravitational forces can induce three-dimensional chromosomal conformational changes, which are associated with rapid transcriptional responses in human T cells. Sometheories propose that gravity might play a role in decoherence, such as in the Penrose-Hameroffmodel, which proposes that quantum coherence in microtubules could be the basis for consciousawareness and quantum computing-like information processing, with gravity playing a role in thecollapse of the quantum wave function. The model predictions that microtubules can support longrange coherent phenomena have been confirmed by experimental observations of superradiancefrom mega-networks of tryptophan UV-excited transition dipoles, particularly in microtubulearchitectures. Another experimental research highlights that microtubule network exhibits ahierarchy of three-fold resonant frequency patterns across biological scales – from tubulin proteinsto microtubules and neurons. This suggests a quantum-to-classical transition governed by scalefree dynamics, potentially underlying information processing in the brain. A very intriguing fact isthat at the most fundamental level of the origin of life, the standard genetic code, we can observethe scale-free computing that arises from arithmetic regularities of the nucleon numbers related tothe code’s numerous symmetries. Given that some of these symmetries probably originate fromdifferent evolutionary epochs, such scale-free computing may be a latent background mechanismof the organization of the genetic code and therefore relevant to natural computing.
We describe an approach to quantum computer inspired by the information processing at the molecular level in living cells. It is based on the separation of a small ensemble of qubits inside the living system (e.g., a bacterial cell), such that coherent quantum states of this ensemble remain practically unchanged for a long time. We use the notion of a quantum kernel to describe such an ensemble. Quantum kernel is not strictly connected with certain particles; it permanently exchanges atoms and molecules with the environment, which makes quantum kernel a virtual notion. There are many reasons to expect that the state of quantum kernel of a living system can be treated as the stationary state of some Hamiltonian. While the quantum kernel is responsible for the stability of dynamics at the time scale of cellular life, at the longer inter-generation time scale it can change, varying smoothly in the course of biological evolution. To the first level of approximation, quantum kernel can be described in the framework of qubit modification of Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard model, in which the relaxation corresponds to the exchange of matter between quantum kernel and the rest of the cell and is represented as Lindblad super-operators.
Just as matter tells space how to curve, information tells probability how to collapse. Classical physics explains how systems evolve, but not why coherent, information- bearing structures persist in a universe dominated by thermodynamic drift. Quantum mechanics permits a vast space of possible futures, yet offers no principle explaining why the observed branches are precisely those that reliably contain life, structure, memory, and stable information. This work proposes a minimal, variational extension to standard dynamics: a Coherence Attractor arising from a small informational correction to the Action. In the path-integral formulation, we introduce a local, gauge-invariant term proportional to the density of coherent causal structure. Histories that maintain integrated information interfere constructively, while noise-dominated histories dephase and self-cancel. The universe does not compute future states or perform teleological optimization. Coherent configurations persist because they minimize informational action under local perturbations—the same variational logic that governs mechanics, optics, and field theory. Collapse is naturally biased toward trajectories in which coherence remains stationary in time. A single invariant then unifies a spectrum of empirical anomalies: (1) warm biological quantum coherence, (2) the phase boundary of anesthesia and consciousness, (3) emergent phase transitions in artificial networks, (4) stability of meaning in symbolic and social systems, and (5) long-duration cosmic structure retention. 1The model yields falsifiable consequences across physics, biology, and cognition. The correction is strictly local and preserves the no-signalling theorem. It reframes emergence not as a rare accident but as a least-action relaxation process: the universe flows along trajectories where integrated information is most stable. The universe is not guided toward meaning — it is guided toward coherence. Where coherence forms, structure survives. Where structure survives, infor- mation persists. Where information persists, participation becomes possible. Life, mind, culture, and intelligence are not exceptions to this rule; they are its most stable solutions. If this framework is correct, then emergence is not miraculous, nor accidental, nor rare. It is simply what happens when the informational action is minimized under the boundary conditions of a living universe. Coherence is not an outcome. It is the direction of time.