Quantum Physics and Life: How We Interact with the World Inside and Around Us

177 Pages·2022·9.752 MB·English

by  Ingemar Ernberg, Göran Johansson, Tomas Lindblad, Joar Svanvik, Göran Wendin

Quantum Physics and Life

Quantum Physics and Life

Ingemar Ernberg, Göran Johansson, Tomas Lindblad,

Joar Svanvik, and Göran Wendin
Published by
Jenny Stanford Publishing Pte. Ltd.
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Quantum Physics and Life
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ISBN 978-981-4968-28-7 (Hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-003-31267-3 (eBook)
Our senses make us aware of only a small part of reality. We humans
move within narrow limits of classical physics. Other animal species
have abilities that we lack, such as senses that detect static electric
and magnetic fields.
Throughout Evolution, the biological processes that constitute Life
have operated based on both classical and quantum physics. They
are all part of the total physical world, a world that is explored by
scientists with the help of classical and quantum physics. Our limited
ability to see beyond the barriers of classical physics has hampered
our progress in several areas of life sciences, leaving room for
scientific hypotheses as well as philosophical and religious beliefs
that are difficult to verify from experience. With the help of quantum
physics, we can go many steps further and understand more of the
physical world that surrounds us on Earth and extends far into the
universe.
Life, Earth, and the Universe

to be explored with present and future

classical and quantum tools.

A never-ending story

Human’s experience through
classical and quantum resourses
extending the human mind
Bio-organisms’ extended experience
of the world
Human’s limited experience
of the world

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgment

Quantum Biology: Where It Came From ix

xiii
1. Life and Quantum Physics x1v

2. Our World Is Just One Part of the Whole 5

3. The Gecko and Life Upside Down 13

4. The Quantized World 17

5. Evolution: About the Origin of Life 27

6. From the Big Bang to Black Holes 35

7. As Time Goes By: The Arrow of Time 43

8. The Art of Finding Your Way Home 55

9. The Vision in New Light 61

10. The Photosynthesis and the Golf Putt 69

11. The Respiratory Chain Sustains Our Lives 77

12. A Sense of Smell 83

13. DNA Repair: Enzymes for Survival and Development 93

14. Quantum Physics in Diagnosis and Treatment 101

15. No More Mysterious Than Necessary 109

16. Consciousness: The Greatest Mystery 117

17. A Glance at the Future of Quantum and Life 127
viii Contents
References and Recommended Readings

Dictionary

133
Table of Units

145
Index

153
155
Preface

Theoretical physicists and medics formed a group, and a book
was born.
The first attempts to colonize Mars have started. The quantum
computer is on its way. The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) is
growing. How come that quantum mechanics that was founded by
Planck, Bohr, Heisenberg, and Schrödinger early in the 20th century
is still not fully understood and accepted? How does it underlie our
molecular functions, biochemistry, thermodynamics, perception of
environment, and brain functions? Does it take part in our conscious
minds? The insight is growing but the transition of explanations from
classical physics is slow and resistant. Our minds do not willingly
accept counter-intuitive conclusions. The outlook of the landscape
via
looks flat but most of us accept that the Earth is a sphere. We have
to add something further to our input of information our senses.
The landscape is not flat—the world is not governed by classical
physics alone.
The year was 2012 and the Nobel laureates in physics had been
presented. The medical society had invited a theoretical physicist to
explain the annual prize and present the laureates to interested non-
physicists and medical doctors. The physicist explained how David
Wineland and Serge Haroche had shown the way quantum physics
works and how it can be tested. Göran Johansson, the physicist, and
Joar Svanvik, a surgeon started a discussion at the dinner table after
the lecture. There were many “aha” experiences. Not classical physics
alone but also quantum mechanics must be involved in biology,
physiology, and medicine! Quantum chemistry is an established
scientific entity. Then why are biology, physiology, and medicine still
left in the realm of classical physics?
This had to be discussed further. Today’s science can explain far
from all in biology and medicine—maybe quantum mechanics can
give further understanding. Could quantum physics, which is often
counter-intuitive, give further clues to understand life sciences?
The group was extended to four researchers. Göran Wendin and
Ingemar Ernberg were also affiliated. The group met regularly and