Macromolecular protein complexes catalyze essential physiological processes that sustain life. Various interactions between protein subunits could increase the effective mass of certain peptide groups, thereby compartmentalizing protein α-helices. Here, we study the differential effects of applied massive barriers upon the soliton-assisted energy transport within proteins. We demonstrate that excentric barriers, localized onto a single spine in the protein α-helix, reflect or trap three-spine solitons as effectively as concentric barriers with comparable total mass. Furthermore, wider protein solitons, whose energy is lower, (...) require heavier massive barriers for soliton reflection or trapping. Regulation of energy transport, delivery and utilization at protein active sites could thus be achieved through control of the soliton width, or of the effective mass of the protein subunits. (shrink)

A simple model of a quantum clock is applied to the old and controversial problem of how long a particle takes to tunnel through a quantum barrier. The model has the advantage of yielding sensible results for energy eigenstates and does not require the use of time-dependent wave packets. Although the treatment does not forbid superluminal tunneling velocities, there is no implication of faster-than-light signaling because only the transit duration is measurable, not the absolute time of transit. (...) A comparison is given with the weak-measurement post-selection calculations of Steinberg. (shrink)

Several years ago, in quantum mechanics, Davies proposed a method to calculate particle’s traveling time with the phase difference of wave function. The method is convenient for calculating the sojourn time inside a potential step and the tunneling time through a potential hill. We extend Davies’ non-relativistic calculation to relativistic quantum mechanics, with and without particle-antiparticle creation, using Klein–Gordon equation and Dirac Equation, for different forms of energy-momentum relation. The extension is successful only when the particle and (...) antiparticle creation/annihilation effect is negligible. (shrink)

It is generally believed that Bohm's version of quantum mechanics is observationally equivalent to standard quantum mechanics. A more careful statement is that the two theories will always make the same predictions for any question or problem that is well posed in both interpretations. The transit time of a “particle” between two points in space is not necessarily well defined in standard quantum mechanics, whereas it is in Bohm's theory since there is always a particle following a (...) definite trajectory. For this reason tunneling times (in a scattering configuration through a potential barrier may be a situation in which Bohm's theory can make a definite prediction when standard quantum mechanics can make none at all. I summarize some of the theoretical and experimental prospects for an unambiguous comparison in the hope that this question will engage the attention of more physicists, especially those experimentalists who now routinely actually do gedanken experiments. (shrink)

How long does a quantum particle take to traverse a classically forbidden energy barrier? In other words, what is the correct expression for quantum tunnelling time? This seemingly simple question has inspired widespread debate in the physics literature. I argue that we should not expect the orthodox interpretation of quantum mechanics to provide a unique correct expression for quantum tunnelling time, because to do so it would have to provide a unique correct answer to a question (...) whose assumptions are in tension with its core interpretational commitments. I explain how this conclusion connects to time’s special status in quantum mechanics, the meaningfulness of classically inspired concepts in different interpretations of quantum mechanics, the prospect of constructing experimental tests to distinguish between different interpretations, and the status of weak measurement in resolving questions about the histories of subensembles. (shrink)

Molecular vibrations and quantum tunneling may link ligand binding to the function of pharmacological receptors. The well‐established lock‐and‐key model explains a ligand's binding and recognition by a receptor; however, a general mechanism by which receptors translate binding into activation, inactivation, or modulation remains elusive. The Vibration Theory of Olfaction was proposed in the 1930s to explain this subset of receptor‐mediated phenomena by correlating odorant molecular vibrations to smell, but a mechanism was lacking. In the 1990s, inelastic electron (...) class='Hi'>tunneling was proposed as a plausible mechanism for translating molecular vibration to odorant physiology. More recently, studies of ligands’ vibrational spectra and the use of deuterated ligand analogs have provided helpful information to study this admittedly controversial hypothesis in metabotropic receptors other than olfactory receptors. In the present work, based in part on published experiments from our laboratory using planarians as an experimental organism, I will present a rationale and possible experimental approach for extending this idea to ligand‐gated ion channels. (shrink)

Niels Bohr’s complementarity principle is a tenuous synthesis of seemingly discrepant theoretical approaches based on a comprehensive analysis of relevant experimental results. Yet the role of complementarity, and the experimentalist-minded approach behind it, were not confined to a provisional best-available synthesis of well-established experimental results alone. They were also pivotal in discovering and explaining the phenomenon of quantum tunneling in its various forms. The core principles of Bohr’s method and the ensuing complementarity account of quantum phenomena remain (...) highly relevant guidelines in the current controversial debate and in experimental work on quantum tunneling times. (shrink)

Quantal penetration through a (stationary) one-dimensional potential barrier is considered as a time evolution of an initially prepared wave packet. The large-time asymptotics of the process is concerned. Locality of the potential imposes certain analytical properties of the interaction amplitudes in the energy representation. The results are presented in terms of development of the phase-space (Wigner's) quasi-distribution. The phase-space evolution kernel is constructed, and it is shown that in the presence of a positive potential no part of the distribution is (...) transported faster than the free particle. For the case of a small initial momentum uncertainty, the deformation of the coordinate density is considered, including a possible advance of its maximum, which would not mean any noncausal signal transport. (shrink)

Tunneling oscillations induced in a double quantum well by a monochromatic electromagnetic wave incident perpendicularly to the plane of the well, and polarized along the direction of its growth, are treated. For the wave frequency in proximity to the energy difference between two states of opposite symmetry, a periodic energy exchange between the wave and a carrier which moves from one energy state to the other is established. When the carrier starts from the low energy level it borrows (...) energy from the wave until it reaches the higher energy state. On its way the carrier performs current oscillations that cease whenever it reaches an eigenstate. Similarly, oscillation is required during the carrier's motion from the high to the low energy state for the photon emission in order that the radiation gets back the energy already given to the carrier. Thus an accelerating charge not only radiates, but also absorbs wave energy. When there prevails a considerable population difference between the two levels the possibility of quantum beat exits. (shrink)

We make a brief review of the Kramers escape rate theory for the probabilistic motion of a particle in a potential well U(x), and under the influence of classical fluctuation forces. The Kramers theory is extended in order to take into account the action of the thermal and zero-point random electromagnetic fields on a charged particle. The result is physically relevant because we get a non-null escape rate over the potential barrier at low temperatures (T → 0). It is found (...) that, even if the mean energy is much smaller than the barrier height, the classical particle can escape from the potential well due to the action of the zero-point fluctuating fields. These stochastic effects can be used to give a classical interpretation to some quantum tunneling phenomena. Relevant experimental data are used to illustrate the theoretical results. (shrink)

Twenty five years ago, Sir John Carew Eccles together with Friedrich Beck proposed a quantum mechanical model of neurotransmitter release at synapses in the human cerebral cortex. The model endorsed causal influence of human consciousness upon the functioning of synapses in the brain through quantum tunneling of unidentified quasiparticles that trigger the exocytosis of synaptic vesicles, thereby initiating the transmission of information from the presynaptic towards the postsynaptic neuron. Here, we provide a molecular upgrade of the Beck (...) and Eccles model by identifying the quantum quasiparticles as Davydov solitons that twist the protein α-helices and trigger exocytosis of synaptic vesicles through helical zipping of the SNARE protein complex. We also calculate the observable probabilities for exocytosis based on the mass of this quasiparticle, along with the characteristics of the potential energy barrier through which tunneling is necessary. We further review the current experimental evidence in support of this novel bio-molecular model as presented. (shrink)

The essential biological processes that sustain life are catalyzed by protein nano-engines, which maintain living systems in far-from-equilibrium ordered states. To investigate energetic processes in proteins, we have analyzed the system of generalized Davydov equations that govern the quantum dynamics of multiple amide I exciton quanta propagating along the hydrogen-bonded peptide groups in α-helices. Computational simulations have confirmed the generation of moving Davydov solitons by applied pulses of amide I energy for protein α-helices of varying length. The stability and (...) mobility of these solitons depended on the uniformity of dipole-dipole coupling between amide I oscillators, and the isotropy of the exciton-phonon interaction. Davydov solitons were also able to quantum tunnel through massive barriers, or to quantum interfere at collision sites. The results presented here support a nontrivial role of quantum effects in biological systems that lies beyond the mechanistic support of covalent bonds as binding agents of macromolecular structures. Quantum tunneling and interference of Davydov solitons provide catalytically active macromolecular protein complexes with a physical mechanism allowing highly efficient transport, delivery, and utilization of free energy, besides the evolutionary mandate of biological order that supports the existence of such genuine quantum phenomena, and may indeed demarcate the quantum boundaries of life. (shrink)

On of the earliest triumphs of quantum mechanics, when the theory was first formulated in the 1920s, was George Gamow's use of quantum tunneling to explain the phenomenon of alpha decay. It was well known then that certain heavy radioactive nuclei, including radium then widely used for glow-in-the-dark clock dials, would spontaneously and unpredictably spit out an energetic helium-4 nucleus (also called an alpha particle) and be transformed into a new lighter nucleus with two fewer nuclear charges. (...) Alpha radioactivity is often very improbable, and this takes the form of alpha-decay half-lives measured in thousands or even millions of years. The question was, how and why did the alpha particle escape its prison in the nucleus, where it should have been tightly and permanently bound? (shrink)

It is proposed in this paper that enzymes, by virtue of a number of correctly positioned sites of interaction with substrates, can force the compression of hydrogen bonds, increasing the probability of proton transfer by quantum mechanical tunneling. By such a catalytic mechanism a rate enhancement of many orders of magnitude may be obtained with a very low energy input requirement. The mechanism would, however, require a highly structured catalyst.Pertinent aspects of hydrogen bond theory and of tunneling (...) theory are briefly reviewed. (shrink)

The present article was partly inspired by G. Pollack’s book, and also Dadoloff, Saxena & Jensen (2010). As a senior physicist colleague and our friend, Robert N. Boyd, wrote in a journal (JCFA, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2022), for example, things and Beings can travel between Universes, intentionally or unintentionally [4]. In this short remark, we revisit and offer short remark to Neil Boyd’s ideas and trying to connect them with geometry of musical chords as presented by D. Tymoczko and (...) others, then to Escherian staircase and then to Jacob’s ladder which seems to pointto possibility to interpret Jacob’s vision as described in the ancient book of Genesis as interdimensional staircase, e.g. an interdimensional bridge between heaven and earth (cf. classic book: Hofstadter, Godel, Escher, Bach). Jacob’s vision of angels going down to earth from that staircase has been depicted for instance in William Blake art etc. In our communication with others via physics literature and discussions etc, we came to several conclusions as follows: Firstly, possibility of wormhole effect to mirror particle universe, which sometimes it is termed non-orientable wormhole. While such mirror particles effect have been more than 50 years predicted with the so-called parity violation (cf. Lee & Yang, 1950s), and that is called symmetry breaking. Secondly, a series of extended experiments on laser irradiated cold water may suggest possible transition from a phase of water to be at least partially fourth phase of water, which may be composed of crystalline water (see e.g. Gerald Pollack, and also Harold Aspden on liquid crystalline). If we can imagine laser cooling effect can be done in protracted time, then we can achieve a physical representation of Aspden‘s liquid crystalline. Therefore, in this article we outline a series of simple experiments of laser irradiated iced-water along with beryl and selenite crystals in order to see possibility of such a quantum tunneling via quantum liquid crystalline Universe hypothesis, which may likely be modeled with iced-water. It is interesting to remark here that certain experiments by Stockholm University scientists have shown that X-ray triggered water can exhibit properties just like liquid crystal (cf. PRL, 2020). That is why we consider it possible that there can be quantum phase transition where liquid water (comprised of iced cubes and water) can exhibit effects such as tunneling in quantum liquid crystalline Universe. Last but not least, we admit that what we outlined here is just aninitial phase; and if you wish, perhaps we can call such experiments as “wormhole-at-lab” experiments (abbreviated: WHALE). (shrink)

A quantum particle moving in a gravitational field may penetrate the classically forbidden region of the gravitational potential. This raises the question of whether the time of flight of a quantum particle in a gravitational field might deviate systematically from that of a classical particle due to tunnelling delay, representing a violation of the weak equivalence principle. I investigate this using a model quantum clock to measure the time of flight of a quantum particle in a (...) uniform gravitational field, and show that a violation of the equivalence principle does not occur when the measurement is made far from the turning point of the classical trajectory. The results are then confirmed using the so-called dwell time definition of quantum tunnelling. I conclude with some remarks about the strong equivalence principle in quantum mechanics. (shrink)

In "The Indeterministic Character of Evolutionary Theory: No 'Hidden Variables Proof' But No Room for Determinism Either," Brandon and Carson (1996) argue that evolutionary theory is statistical because the processes it describes are fundamentally statistical. In "Is Indeterminism the Source of the Statistical Character of Evolutionary Theory?" Graves, Horan, and Rosenberg (1999) argue in reply that the processes of evolutionary biology are fundamentally deterministic and that the statistical character of evolutionary theory is explained by epistemological rather than ontological considerations. In (...) this paper I focus on the topic of mutation. By focusing on some of the theory and research on this topic from early to late, I show how quantum indeterminism hooks up to point mutations (via tautomeric shifts, proton tunneling, and aqueous thermal motion). I conclude with a few thoughts on some of the wider implications of this topic. (shrink)

As a senior physicist colleague and our friend, Robert N. Boyd, wrote in a journal (JCFA, Vol. 1,. 2, 2022), Our universe is but one page in a large book [4]. For example, things and Beings can travel between Universes, intentionally or unintentionally. In this short remark, we revisit and offer short remark to Neil’s ideas and trying to connect them with geometrization of musical chords as presented by D. Tymoczko and others, then to Escher staircase and then to Jacob’s (...) ladder which seems to point to possibility to interpret Jacob’s vision as described in the ancient book of Genesis as inter dimensional or heavenly staircase, e.g. an inter dimensional bridge between heaven and earth (see also classic book: Hofstadter, Godel, Escher, Bach). Jacob’s vision of angels going down to earth from that staircase has been depicted for instance in William Blake art etc. In our communication with others via physics literature and discussions etc, we came to several conclusions as follows: Firstly, possibility of quantum wormhole effect to mirror particle universe, which sometimes it is termed non-orientable wormhole. While such mirror particles effect have been more than 50 years predicted with the so-called parity violation (cf. Lee & Yang, 1950s), and that is called symmetry breaking. Secondly, a series of extended experiments on laser irradiated cold water may suggest possible transition from a phase of water to be at least partially fourth phase of water, which may be composed of crystalline water (see e.g. Gerald Pollack, and also Harold Aspden on liquid crystalline). If we can imagine laser cooling effect can be done in protracted time, then we can achieve a physical representation of Aspden’s liquid crystalline. Therefore, in subsequent article (Part II) we outlined simple model of such an effect of tunneling via quantum liquid crystalline Universe, which may likely be modeled with iced-water. It is interesting to remark here that certain experiments by Stockholm University scientists have shown that X-ray triggered water can exhibit properties just like liquid crystal (cf. PRL, 2020). That is why we consider it possible that there can be quantum phase transition where liquid water (comprised of iced cubes and water) can exhibit effects such as tunneling in quantum liquid crystalline Universe. Last but not least, we admit that what we outlined here is just an initial phase; and if you wish, perhaps we can call such experiments as “wormhole-at-lab” experiments (abbreviated: WHALE). (shrink)

Resonance can trigger of a series of quantum events and therefore induce several changes related to consciousness at micro as well as macro level within a living system. Therapeutic effects have been observed in several religious meditative and healing practices, which use resonance in the form of chanting and prayers. A living system may have many resonant frequencies due to their degrees of freedom, where each can vibrate as a harmonic oscillator supporting the progression of vibrations as waves that (...) moves as a ripple within the whole system. A cell as an organism or cells in multicellular organisms act as resonating bodies that trigger of oscillation of oscillatory proteins of the cytoskeletal network. The resulting protein conformational changes generate a conscious moment that is regulated via electron tunneling, delocalization and superposition in space time geometry. Consciousness or sentience are phenomenal characteristics of every cell and even though we don’t know the “why” we surely can predict and hypothesize the “how” of consciousness to be quantum computed, which enables the cell to understand and judge perceptions giving it a prospect to behave as per will. (shrink)

It is shown that below the threshold of pair creation, a consistent quantum mechanical interpretation of relativistic spin-0 and spin-1 particles (both massive and mussless) ispossible based an the Hamiltonian-Schrödinger form of the firstorder Kemmer equation together with a first-class constraint. The crucial element is the identification of a conserved four-vector current associated with the equation of motion, whose time component is proportional to the energy density which is constrainedto be positive definite for allsolutions. Consequently, the antiparticles must be (...) interpreted as positive-energy states traveling backward in time. This also makes it possible to define hermitian position operators with localized eigensolutions (δ-functions) as well as Bohmian trajectories for bosons. The exact theory is obtained by “second quantization” and is mathematically completely equivalent to conventional quantum field theory. The classical field emerges in the high mean number limit of coherent states of the exact theory. The formalism provides a new basis for computing tunneling times for photons and chaotic phenomena in optics. (shrink)

A comparison is made between the Bohm trajectory and Feynman path approaches to the long-standing problem of determining the average lime taken for a particle described by the Schrödinger wave function ψ to tunnel through a potential barrier. The former approach follows simply and uniquely from the basic postulates of Bohm's causal interpretation of quantum mechanics; the latter is intimately related to the most frequently cited approaches based on conventional interpretations. Emphasis is given to the fact that fundamentally different (...) transmission (T)-reflection (R) decompositions, particlelike and wavelike respectively, are central to the two methods: ¦ψ¦2=[¦ψ¦2]T+[¦ψ¦2]R (Bohm trajectory approach); ψ=ψT+ψR (Feynman path approach). (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of emergent examples of macroscopic quantum phenomena. While quantum theory asserts that such quantum behaviors as superposition, entanglement, and coherence are possible for all objects, assumptions that quantum processes operate exclusively within the quantum realm have contributed to on-going bias toward presumed primacy of classical physics in the macroscopic realm. Non-trivial quantum macroscopic effects are now recognized in the fields of biology, quantum physics, (...) quantum computing, quantum astronomy, and neuroscience, with implications for medicine, psychology and sociology. Robust examples of macroscopic quantum coherence and entanglement contain unmistakable biological advantages, such as are observed in the green sulphur bacteria photosynthesis transfer mechanism, and in the navigational system of the European Robin. Macroscopic quantum processes in the form of an olfactory electron tunneling mechanism best account for the otherwise inexplicable difference observed in the odor of identically-shaped molecules. Evidence of reverse-direction causality is apparent in experiments with large numbers of photons and human subjects. Entanglement, retrocausality, and superposition of states are suggested as causal factors to account for increases in efficacy of the placebo effect. Alternate histories of "flashbulb memories" and embodied cognition are considered as possible examples of superposition of states in a holographic multiverse in which the many worlds of the multiverse and the many worlds of quantum mechanics might just be one and the same thing. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}. (shrink)

By probability theory the probability space to underlie the set of statistical data described by the squared modulus of a coherent superposition of microscopically distinct (sub)states (CSMDS) is non-Kolmogorovian and, thus, such data are mutually incompatible. For us this fact means that the squared modulus of a CSMDS cannot be unambiguously interpreted as the probability density and quantum mechanics itself, with its current approach to CSMDSs, does not allow a correct statistical interpretation. By the example of a 1D completed (...) scattering and double slit diffraction we develop a new quantum-mechanical approach to CSMDSs, which requires the decomposition of the non-Kolmogorovian probability space associated with the squared modulus of a CSMDS into the sum of Kolmogorovian ones. We adapt to CSMDSs the presented by Khrennikov (Found. Phys. 35(10):1655, 2005) concept of real contexts (complexes of physical conditions) to determine uniquely the properties of quantum ensembles. Namely we treat the context to create a time-dependent CSMDS as a complex one consisting of elementary (sub)contexts to create alternative subprocesses. For example, in the two-slit experiment each slit generates its own elementary context and corresponding subprocess. We show that quantum mechanics, with a new approach to CSMDSs, allows a correct statistical interpretation and becomes compatible with classical physics. (shrink)

The subject of the article is the conception of the Universe quantum origin. According to this conception, the Universe was formed as an effect of the quantum fluctuation of physical vacuum and can just be considered as such fluctuation. The first suggestion of such an origin of the Universe was made by M.G. Albrow. The views of A. Vilenkin, S.W. Hawking and J.B. Hartle, who combined this conception with the inflationary Universe theory, made the basis for the analysis (...) of the contemporary version of the conception of the Universe quantum origin. Consequently, a new version of this conception was elaborated, which assumed that the Universe was formed from nothing as an effect of quantum tunneling passage. Followers of the conception of the Universe quantum origin suggest that the solution of the problem of the origin of the Universe on the basis of this conception is of absolute character. However, the philosophical analysis of the problem discussed in the article, which includes cosmological consequences of the idea of inexhaustibility of matter, proved that the solution of the problem proposedin the conception of the Universe quantum origin is not and cannot be of absolute character. In fact, the solution is a cosmological hypothesis describing one of theoretical variants of the relative origin of the Universe. At the end of the article, it was remarked that the development of the 20th century cosmology results in the necessity of modification of philosophical terminology used so far for the purpose of the analysis of the problem of the origin of the Universe. (shrink)

Semiclassical theory based upon complexified classical mechanics is developed for periodically time-dependent scattering systems, which are minimal models of multi-dimensional systems. Semiclassical expression of the wave-matrix is derived, which is represented as the sum of the contributions from classical trajectories, where all the dynamical variables as well as the time are extended to the complex-domain. The semiclassical expression is examined by a periodically perturbed 1D barrier system and an excellent agreement with the fully quantum result is confirmed. In a (...) stronger perturbation regime, the tunneling component of the wave-matrix exhibits a remarkable interference fringes, which is clarified by the semiclassical theory as an interference among multiple complex tunneling trajectories. It turns out that such a peculiar behavior is the manifestation of an intrinsic multi-dimensional effect closely related to a singular movement of singularities possessed by the complex classical trajectories. (shrink)

A theoretical framework called "Quantum Brain Dynamics" to describe long range ordered dynamics of the quantum system of electromagnetic field and water dipole field in the brain is proposed as a revival of the original idea developed by Umezawa in the early 1960s. Based on Umezawa’s world view of quantum field theory, the manifestation of long range ordered dynamics is a macroscopic object of quantum origin, and so it reveals the existence of specific macroscopic objects in (...) the brain called "tunneling photon water." Tunneling photon water is shown to manifest several interesting quantum phenomena involving coherent photon emission and transmission, and is suggested to play an important role in quantum brain dynamics. The ordered quantum dynamics of such a macroscopic condensate of tunneling photons with nonvanishing effective charge and mass as tunneling photon water is governed by the macroscopic Schrödinger equation, and ensures superconducting phenomena in the brain at body temperature. The meaning of quantum brain dynamics is clearly explained for brain and cognitive scientists who have been confused by either the overstatement with misplaced quantum concepts usually given by those not appropriately schooled in physics or the understatement with textbook quantum concepts given by technical physicists. (shrink)

The presented enhanced version of Eriksen’s theorem defines an universal transform of the Foldy–Wouthuysen type and in any external static electromagnetic field reveals a discrete symmetry of Dirac’s equation, responsible for existence of a highly influential conserved quantum number—the charge index distinguishing two branches of DE spectrum. It launches the charge-index formalism obeying the charge-index conservation law. Via its unique ability to manipulate each spectrum branch independently, the CIF creates a perfect charge-symmetric architecture of Dirac’s quantum mechanics, which (...) resolves all the riddles of the standard DE theory. Besides the abstract CIF algebra, the paper discusses: the novel accurate charge-symmetric definition of the electric-current density; DE in the true-particle representation, where electrons and positrons coexist on equal footing; flawless “natural” scheme of second quantization; and new physical grounds for the Fermi–Dirac statistics. As a fundamental quantum law, the CICL originates from the kinetic-energy sign conservation and leads to a novel single-particle physics in strong-field situations. Prohibiting Klein’s tunneling in Klein’s zone via the CICL, the precise CIF algebra defines a new class of weakly singular DE solutions, strictly confined in the coordinate space and experiencing the total reflection from the potential barrier. (shrink)

We give a review of some works where it is shown that certain quantum-like features are exhibited by classical systems. Two kinds of problems are considered. The first one concerns the specific heat of crystals (the so called Fermi–Pasta–Ulam problem), where a glassy behavior is observed, and the energy distribution is found to be of Planck-like type. The second kind of problems concerns the self-interaction of a charged particle with the electromagnetic field, where an analog of the tunnel effect (...) is proven to exist, and moreover some nonlocal effects are exhibited, leading to a natural hidden variable theory which violates Bell's inequalities. (shrink)

Vacuum Genesis and Spontaneous Emergence of the Universe from Nothing in Reference to the Classical Notion of Causality and Creation ex nihilo The article discousses philosophical and theological reflections inspired by the cosmological model of the origin of the universe from quantum vacuum through quantum tunneling and the model presented by Hartle and Hawking. In the context of the thesis about the possibility of cosmogenesis ex nihilo without the need of God the creator, the question is being (...) raised concerning the ontological status of nothingness and of the laws of nature in the aforementioned models. After pointing to the fact that they do not imply an absolute nothingness in the philosophical sense, the main objectives of both models and philosophical-theological conclusions they inspire are interpreted in the light of the classical principles of potency and act, theory of causation and chance events in nature, elements of classical theology of creation and the classification of sciences in terms of various levels of abstraction, proposed by Aquinas. Noting the fact that some cosmologists cross methodological boundaries of their science, we emphasize the role and significance of their research in a deeper understanding of the philosophical aspects of the origins of the universe, especially the role of potency in the first stages of its existence and evolution. (shrink)

The ontological incompleteness revealed by quantum physics and the ontological stability imposed by the “augmented reality” of games such as _Pokémon Go_ have become increasingly important references in Žižek’s materialist assessment of the contemporary Other. This paper analyzes a current online phenomenon, known as “the Backrooms,” that converges with these recent concerns in ways that are perhaps more interesting and provocative than films such as _The Matrix _and _The Truman Show _that, Žižek contends, lead one to a conceptual dead-end. (...) That is, we might conclude that there is an authentic reality beyond the simulation or that there is no ‘real’ reality, just a variety of semblances – either way, we foreclose the real that, according to Žižek, inheres as incompleteness and inconsistency. “The Backrooms,” which began life as a cryptic and disquieting post on the forum _4chan _before inspiring subreddits, video games and _YouTube _videos – content that is predominantly created and shared by the ‘gen x’ demographic – ex-sists in a reality that is unstable and, so goes its lore, can be accessed through glitches and ‘quantum tunnelling.’ With this one example, we shall see how culture is responding to the same political and scientific developments that Žižek’s materialism is also working through. (shrink)

I offer a novel solution to the problem of counterfactual skepticism: the worry that all contingent counterfactuals without explicit probabilities in the consequent are false. I argue that a specific kind of contextualist semantics and pragmatics for would- and might-counterfactuals can block both central routes to counterfactual skepticism. One, it can explain the clash between would- and might-counterfactuals as in: If you had dropped that vase, it would have broken. and If you had dropped that vase, it might have safely (...) quantum tunneled to China. Two, it can explain why counterfactuals like can be true despite the fact that quantum tunneling worlds are among the most similar worlds. I further argue that this brand of contextualism accounts for the data better than other existing solutions to the problem. (shrink)

Mainstream cognitive neuroscience typically ignores the role of quantum physical effects in the neural processes underlying cogni¬tion and consciousness. However, many unsolved problems remain, suggesting the need to consider new approaches. We propose that quantum theory, especially through an ontological interpretation due to Bohm and Hiley, provides a fruitful framework for addressing the neural correlates of cognition and consciousness. In particular, the ontological interpretation suggests that a novel type of 'active information', connected with a novel type of ' (...) class='Hi'>quantum potential energy', plays a key role in quantum physical processes. After introducing the ontological interpretation we illustrate its value for cognitive neuroscience by discussing it in the light of a proposal by Beck and Eccles about how quantum tunneling could play a role in controlling the frequency of synaptic exocytosis. In this proposal, quantum tunneling would enable the 'self' to control its brain without violating the energy conservation law. We argue that the ontological interpretation provides a sharper picture of what actually could be taking place in quantum tunneling in general and in synaptic exocytosis in particular. Based on the notions of active information and quantum potential energy, we propose a coherent way of understanding how mental processes (understood as involving non-classical physical processes) can act on traditional, classically describable neural processes without violating the energy conservation law. (shrink)

Recent models in quantum cosmology make use of the concept of imaginary time. These models all conjecture a join between regions of imaginary time and regions of real time. We examine the model of James Hartle and Stephen Hawking to argue that the various no-boundary attempts to interpret the transition from imaginary to real time in a logically consistent and physically significant way all fail. We believe this conclusion also applies to quantum tunneling models, such as that (...) proposed by Alexander Vilenkin. We conclude, therefore, that the notion of emerging from imaginary time is incoherent. A consequence of this conclusion seems to be that the whole class of cosmological models appealing to imaginary time is thereby refuted. (shrink)

David Bohm published his “Suggested Interpretation of Quantum Theory in Terms of Hidden Variables” some twenty five years after Louis de Broglie first presented his similar Pilot Wave theory of quantum mechanics. In the following 30 years what became known as the de Broglie–Bohm approach to quantum theory was to a large extent ignored within the physics community. Even David Bohm himself became somewhat disillusioned with the lack of impact of his interpretation of quantum theory and (...) he directed his interest elsewhere. But some 27 years after Bohm had published his interpretation of quantum theory, interest was rekindled in part by new, detailed calculations that demonstrated clearly and graphically, exactly how his interpretation explained quantum phenomena in terms of well defined individual particle trajectories. These computations encompassed two-slit interference, quantum tunnelling, neutron interferometry, Wheeler’s delayed choice experiment, orbital and intrinsic angular momentum, quantum measurement and Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen nonlocal correlations for orbital angular momentum, intrinsic angular momentum and correlated particle interferometry. Since then, the acceptance of the validity of de Broglie–Bohm theory has steadily grown, as has the interest in the consequences of the approach. For my contribution to the current celebratory volume I was asked to provide a personal review specifically of this novel work within its historical context of the last quarter of the twentieth century. (shrink)

Cosmology is usually understood as an observational science, where experimentation plays no role. It is interesting, nevertheless, to change this perspective addressing the following question: what should we do to create a universe, in a laboratory? It appears, in fact, that this is, in principle, possible according to at least two different paradigms; both allow to circumvent singularity theorems, i.e. the necessity of singularities in the past of inflating domains which have the required properties to generate a universe similar to (...) ours. The first of them is substantially classical, and is built up considering solitons which collide with surrounding topological defects, generating an inflationary domain of space–time. The second is, instead, partly quantum and considers the possibility of tunnelling of past-non-singular regions of spacetime into an inflating universe, following a well-known instanton proposal. We are, here, going to review some of these models, as well as highlight possible extensions, generalizations and the open issues (as for instance the detectability of child universes and the properties of quantum tunnelling processes) that still affect the description of their dynamics. In doing so we will remark how the works on this subject can represent virtual laboratories to test the role that fundamental principles of physics (particularly, the interplay of quantum and general relativistic realms) played in the formation of our universe. (shrink)

A Quantum Effect in the Classical Limit: Non-equilibrium Tunneling in the Duffing OscillatorAlec Maassen van den BrinkRCAS, Academia Sinica, Taiwanemail: [email protected] Duffing model is an oscillator with weak near-resonant driving, damping, and nonlinearity. For certain parameters, the stationary amplitude and phase bifurcate depending on initial conditions, and vary widely from one stable branch to the other. Due to this sensitivity, the system can be used for constructing detection devices.In recent years, an implementation using superconducting devices—the so-called Josephson bifurcation (...) amplifier (JBA)—has been successfully used experimentally for superconducting qubit readout. In the experimental literature, the JBA is often taken as classical. However, for e.g. understanding how the stability of the stationary states is modified by tunneling, a proper quantum analysis is necessary. Such tunneling transitions would be an error process from the point of view of detecto. (shrink)

By analyzing the Dirac equation with static electric and magnetic fields it is shown that Dirac’s theory is nothing but a generalized one-particle quantum theory compatible with the special theory of relativity. This equation describes a quantum dynamics of a single relativistic fermion, and its solution is reduced to solution of the generalized Pauli equation for two quasiparticles which move in the Euclidean space with their effective masses holding information about the Lorentzian symmetry of the four-dimensional space-time. We (...) reveal the correspondence between the Dirac bispinor and Pauli spinor , and show that all four components of the Dirac bispinor correspond to a fermion . Mixing the particle and antiparticle states is prohibited. On this basis we discuss the paradoxical phenomena of Zitterbewegung and the Klein tunneling. (shrink)

A macroscopic realization of the peculiar virtual particles is presented. The classical Helmholtz and the Schrödinger equations are differential equations of the same mathematical structure. The solutions with an imaginary wave number are called evanescent modes in the case of elastic and electromagnetic fields. In the case of non-relativistic quantum mechanical fields they are called tunneling solutions. The imaginary wave numbers point to strange consequences: The waves are non-local, they are not observable, and they are described as virtual (...) particles. During the last two decades QED calculations of the solutions with an imaginary wave number have been experimentally confirmed for phonons, photons, and electrons. The experimental proofs of the predictions of non-relativistic quantum mechanics and the Wigner phase time approach for the elastic, electromagnetic and Schrödinger fields will be presented in this article. The results are zero time in the barrier and an interaction time (i.e. a phase shift) at the barrier interfaces. The measured tunneling time scales approximately inversely with the particle energy. Actually, the tunneling time is given only by the barrier boundary interaction time, as zero time is spent inside a barrier. (shrink)

I suggest that quantum mechanical nonlocality may in a certain sense allow a particle to be in two places at the same time, without violating causality. I discuss the measurable consequences of such a feat, and speculate about possible statistical tests which could distinguish this view of quantum mechanics from a “corpuscular” one. In particular, I describe some experiments being set up at Toronto which will investigate atomic tunneling, looking among other things for a signature of such (...) alkali schizophrenia. (shrink)

In this paper, I provide an account of scientific representation that makes sense of the notion both at the nanoscale and at the quantum level: the partial mappings account. The account offers an extension of a proposal developed by R. I. G. Hughes in terms of denotation, demonstration, and interpretation (DDI). I first argue that the DDI account needs some amendments to accommodate representation of nano and quantum phenomena. I then introduce a generalized framework with the notions of (...) unsharp denotation, unsharp interpretation, and partial mappings. I conclude by arguing that the resulting view not only accommodates nano and quantum representations but also makes sense of representation by imaging in (scanning tunneling) microscopy. (shrink)