Quantum Physics and Life

Ingemar T. Ernberg, Göran Johansson, Tomas Lindblad +2 more

Mark Buchanan

K. H. Hicks

Abstract Black holes occur when matter collapses inward. So what keeps matter apart? Without this simple fact—that atoms repel each other—all matter would collapse, and there would be no life. The reason that matter stays apart is due to the Pauli principle, named after physicist Wolfgang Pauli. It is a principle of quantum mechanics. However, the basis for this physical “law” is not understood. It just is. Without it, life in our universe would not be possible. This chapter discusses the basics of quantum physics in simple language along with boxes about the physicists who formulated this theory. The goal is to help the reader understand that quantum physics is another balance point in the existence of life.

Lorus Johnson Milne, Margery J. Milne

Jordan Gabriel Farrell

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.