Decoherence in the chemical compass: the role of decoherence for avian magnetoreception.
Contrary to the usual picture that decoherence destroys quantum properties and causes the quantum-to-classical transition, we argue that decoherence can also play a constructive role in driving quantum dynamics and amplifying its results to macroscopic scales. We support this perspective by presenting an example system from spin chemistry, which is also of importance for biological systems, e.g. in avian magnetoreception.
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. markus.tiersch@uibk.ac.at
Markus
M
Tiersch
Hans J
HJ
Briegel
D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D005609:Free Radicals / Q000737:chemistry; D060526:Magnetic Fields; D008954:Models, Biological; D008956:Models, Chemical; D011789:Quantum Theory; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology
D005609:Free Radicals