Coherence in Physics and Biology

Ross Dorner, John Goold, Vlatko Vedral

Recent advances in the spectroscopy of biomolecules have highlighted the possibility of quantum coherence playing an active role in biological energy transport. The revelation that quantum coherence can survive in the hot and wet environment of biology has generated a lively debate across both the physics and biology communities. In particular, it remains unclear to what extent non-trivial quantum effects are used in biology and what advantage, if any, they afford. We propose an analogue quantum simulator, based on currently available techniques in ultra-cold atom physics, to study a model of energy and electron transport based on the Holstein Hamiltonian. By simulating the salient aspects of a biological system in a tunable laboratory set-up, we hope to gain insight into the validity of several theoretical models of biological quantum transport in a variety of relevant parameter regimes.

K. Birgitta Whaley

William Douglas Nault

This working paper explores the hypothesis that quantum coherence observed in neuronal microtubules may not merely support conscious experience, but may be actively chaped or selected by it. building on prior work outlining a coherence control framework for physical systems, this paper examines whether biological structures such as microtubules can function as interfaces where macroscopic cognitive states influence microscopic coherence dynamics.\ Recent experimental and theoretical studies in quantum biology suggest that microtubules may sustain transient quantum coherence under physiological conditions. While most existing modles treat these effects as bottom-up contributors to cognition, this work investigates a complementary top-down perspective: that conscious processes may bias, stablilize, or collapse coherent states within biological substrates. The paper does not claim impirical proof, but proposes a conceptual mapping between coherence selection, neural organization, and subjective experience. This framework is peresented as an exploratory theoretical modle intended to generate testable questions at the intersection of neuroscience, quantum physics, and consciousness studies. This work extends earlier coherence-based modles while remaining explicitly speculative and open to refinement though empirical and theoretical critique.

Alexandra Olaya-Castro

Quantum mechanics provides the most accurate microscopic description of the world around us, yet the interface between quantum mechanics and biology is only now being explored. This book uses a combination of experiment and theory to examine areas of biology believed to be strongly influenced by manifestly quantum phenomena. Covering subjects ranging from coherent energy transfer in photosynthetic light harvesting to spin coherence in the avian compass and the problem of molecular recognition in olfaction, the book is ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in physics, biology and chemistry seeking to understand the applications of quantum mechanics to biology.

Stephan Zanzinger