Radical-ion-pair reactions are the biochemical equivalent of the optical double slit experiment

Abstract

Radical-ion-pair reactions were recently shown to represent a rich biophysical laboratory for the application of quantum measurement theory methods and concepts. We here show that radical-ion-pair reactions essentially form a non-linear biochemical double slit interferometer. Quantum coherence effects are visible when "which-path" information is limited, and the incoherent limit is approached when measurement-induced decoherence sets in. Based on this analogy with the optical double slit experiment we derive and elaborate on the fundamental master equation of spin-selective radical-ion-pair reactions that covers the continuous range from complete incoherence to maximum singlet-triplet coherence.

9 pages, 5 figures, published version

References in corpus (3)

• Spin-selective reactions of radical pairs act as quantum measurements
• Nonlinear thermodynamic quantum master equation: Properties and examples
• Second Comment on "Spin-selective reactions of radical pairs act as quantum measurements" (Chemical Physics Letters 488 (2010) 90-93)

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