Mavromatos N E
Department of Physics (Theoretical Physics), University of Oxford, UK.
Bioelectrochem Bioenerg. 1999 May;48(2):273-84. doi: 10.1016/s0302-4598(99)00015-x.
We discuss the possibility of quantum-mechanical coherence in Cell MicroTubules (MT), based on recent developments in quantum physics. We focus on potential mechanisms for 'energy-loss-free' transport along the microtubules, which could be considered as realizations of Frohlich's ideas on the role of solitons for superconductivity and/or biological matter. In particular, by representing the MT arrangements as cavities, we review a novel scenario, suggested in collaboration with D.V. Nanopoulos, concerning the formation of macroscopic (or mesoscopic) quantum-coherent states, as a result of the (quantum-electromagnetic) interactions of the MT dimers with the surrounding molecules of the ordered water in the interior of the MT cylinders. We suggest specific experiments to test the above-conjectured quantum nature of the microtubular arrangements inside the cell. These experiments are similar in nature to those in atomic physics, used in the detection of the Rabi-Vacuum coupling between coherent cavity modes and atoms. Our conjecture is that a similar Rabi-Vacuum-splitting phenomenon occurs in the absorption (or emission) spectra of the MT dimers, which would constitute a manifestation of the dimer coupling with the coherent modes in the ordered-water environment (dipole quanta), which emerge due to the phenomenon of 'super-radiance'.
基于量子物理学的最新进展，我们讨论了细胞微管（MT）中量子力学相干性的可能性。我们关注沿微管“无能量损失”传输的潜在机制，这可被视为弗罗利希关于孤子在超导性和/或生物物质中作用观点的实现。特别是，通过将MT排列表示为腔，我们回顾了与D.V. 纳诺普洛斯合作提出的一种新情景，即由于MT二聚体与MT圆柱体内部有序水分子周围分子的（量子电磁）相互作用，形成宏观（或介观）量子相干态。我们建议进行特定实验来测试细胞内微管排列的上述推测量子性质。这些实验在本质上类似于原子物理学中用于检测相干腔模与原子之间拉比 - 真空耦合的实验。我们推测在MT二聚体的吸收（或发射）光谱中会出现类似的拉比 - 真空分裂现象，这将构成二聚体与有序水环境（偶极量子）中相干模耦合的一种表现，这种相干模是由于“超辐射”现象出现的。
