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FUNDAMENTS OF COHERENCE IN BIOLOGY
G.J. HYLAND
University of Warwick, Department of Physics, COVENTRY, CV4 7AL, UK
International Institute of Biophysics, Kapellner Straße, ehem. Raketenstation, D-41472 NEUSS-HOLZHEIM,
Germany
One of the most intriguing aspects of biophoton emission is its likely coherence, a concept that was originally introduced into biology much earlier by H. Fröhlich, some 30 years ago. Fröhlich was probably the first to appreciate that, from the point of view of Physics, living systems are open, dissipative systems, whose metabolic activity holds them far from thermal equilibrium. In terms of a simple model involving a non-linear coupling between the collective electric dipolar modes associated with bioconstituents of a given kind and the surrounding heat bath, he showed that what is now referred to as the ‘self-organising’ ability of such a non-linear system here manifests itself (under certain conditions) in the emergence of a single mode that is very strongly excited, well above the level that would be realised in thermal equilibrium at physiological temperatures. The frequency of this supra-thermal excitation – which Fröhlich called a coherent excitation - is that of the lowest frequency, longitudinal electric mode, which is typically (but not exclusively) in the microwave region. Since the population of this mode is effectively macroscopic, living systems supporting such coherent excitations must be considered to be non-equilibrium, macroscopic quantum systems, as repeatedly emphasised by Smith. Some implications of this will be discussed, including, in particular, the possibility of a novel form of (energy-less) biocommunication involving a magnetic vector potential derivable from a scalar field, associated with which there are no electric or magnetic fields.
In addition as to whether the likely coherence of biophoton emission might possibly be ‘inherited’ from that of Fröhlich’s endogenous coherent excitations, there is also the question as whether the very occurrence of biophoton emission is itself a radiative consequence of such excitations. This will be considered in some detail, particularly with respect to the bulk longitudinal character of the coherent electric mode. Given, however, the ways in which the frequency and spectral distribution of the associated radiative mode differ from those characterising biophoton emission, it must be concluded that if Fröhlich’s coherent excitations play a role in biophoton emission they must do so in some more subtle way - perhaps by enforcing the necessary correlations between the sources of the biophotons to ensure the coherence of their emission. The necessity of describing the coherence of biophoton emission in terms of the coherent states of quantum optics, which are valid both for low intensity and non-monochromatic fields, will be explained.
Finally, attention will be drawn to the fact that the dominant component of Fröhlich’s all-important heat bath is water, whose molecules themselves possess a permanent electric dipole moment; this entails two particular consequences. Firstly, cell water must be anticipated to become macroscopically polarised in the presence of a coherent excitation, which must accordingly be considered to be a new source of water structure. Secondly, the possibility of coherence in water itself must be entertained. In this connection, attention will be drawn to a prediction made some time ago by Preparata et al. concerning the possibility of realising coherence in water without pumping, as a result of an instability in the usual ground-state, which occurs (above a certain critical density) when account is taken of a coupling between the water molecules and the (zero-point) fluctuations of the electromagnetic field, which is usually neglected on the grounds that (on average) the vacuum field vanishes.
The coherence here is self-confined to domains whose spatial extent is of the order of 0.1m m, and involves synchronised electronic transitions between the ground-state and a certain (almost unbound) excited state of each water molecule contained within such a domain, coupled to which is an oscillatory, strong electric field that is in phase with these molecular transitions, the common frequency being close to 60THz. With increasing temperature, an increasing number of water molecules break away from the coherent domains, resulting in the formation of a two-fluid system, comprising a temperature-dependent mixture of those water molecules that continue to belong to coherent domains and those (the incoherent fraction) that do not, the coherence disappearing altogether at the critical temperature.
Some biological implications of this water coherence will be considered, and the importance of considering its repercussions on Fröhlich’s coherent excitations stressed.
