Entanglement and sources of magnetic anisotropy in radical pair-based avian magnetoreceptors.
One of the principal models of magnetic sensing in migratory birds rests on the quantum spin dynamics of transient radical pairs created photochemically in ocular cryptochrome proteins. We consider here the role of electron spin entanglement and coherence in determining the sensitivity of a radical pair-based geomagnetic compass and the origins of the directional response. It emerges that the anisotropy of radical pairs formed from spin-polarized molecular triplets could form the basis of a more sensitive compass sensor than one founded on the conventional hyperfine-anisotropy model. This property offers new and more flexible opportunities for the design of biologically inspired magnetic compass sensors.
Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Physical & Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford OX1 3QZ, United Kingdom.
Hannah J
HJ
Hogben
Till
T
Biskup
P J
PJ
Hore
D025041:Animal Migration / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D016880:Anisotropy; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D056931:Cryptochromes / Q000502:physiology; D004583:Electrons; D005426:Flight, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D006702:Homing Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008280:Magnetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology
D056931:Cryptochromes