Quantum coherence and sensitivity of avian magnetoreception
arXiv:1204.6528 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.110502
Abstract
Migratory birds and other species have the ability to navigate by sensing the geomagnetic field. Recent experiments indicate that the essential process in the navigation takes place in bird's eye and uses chemical reaction involving molecular ions with unpaired electron spins (radical pair). Sensing is achieved via geomagnetic-dependent dynamics of the spins of the unpaired electrons. Here we utilize the results of two behavioral experiments conducted on European Robins to argue that the average life-time of the radical pair is of the order of a microsecond and therefore agrees with experimental estimations of this parameter for cryptochrome --- a pigment believed to form the radical pairs. We also found a reasonable parameter regime where sensitivity of the avian compass is enhanced by environmental noise, showing that long coherence time is not required for navigation and may even spoil it.
arXiv comment6+ pages, 2+4 figures, new results added
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- The radical-pair mechanism as a paradigm for the emerging science of quantum biology
- Quantum dynamics of the avian compass
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- Teleportation of quantum coherence
- Environment-induced anisotropy and the sensitivity of the radical pair mechanism in the avian compass
- Comment on "Quantum Coherence and Sensitivity of Avian Magnetoreception"
- Estimating the HF coupling parameters of the avian compass by comprehensively considering the available experimental results
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- Impossibility of Cloning of Quantum Coherence
- Towards Quantum Cybernetics
- Multiple re-encounter approach to radical pair reactions and the role of nonlinear master equations
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