From Physics to Life

Title: Open Questions at the Quantum Frontier

Although quantum mechanics is a century old, the fundamental question of whether it is a complete theory of nature remains unresolved. As formulated, quantum mechanics runs into profound issues in the three great frontiers of modern science – the very large, the very small and the very complex. Although quantum signatures have seemingly been embedded in the universe since the big bang, there are many obstacles to a consistent theory of quantum cosmology, including the thermal properties of de Sitter space, the asymmetric status of pre- and post-selection, and gravitational entropy. The assumption of the continuity of spacetime and the associated problem of trans-Planckian modes cloud issues about the black hole information paradox. And in spite of advances in creating mesoscopic Schrödinger cat states, the emerging subject of quantum biology is muddled and tentative. Schrödinger’s own famous question ‘What is Life?’ is still unanswered.

Title: Building useful autonomous quantum machines

Controlled quantum machines have matured significantly. A natural next step is to grant them autonomy, freeing them from timed external control. For example, autonomy could unfetter quantum computers from classical control wires that heat and decohere them; and an autonomous quantum refrigerator recently reset superconducting qubits to near their ground states, as is necessary before a computation. What conditions are necessary for realizing useful autonomous quantum machines? Inspired by recent quantum thermodynamics and chemistry, I will posit conditions analogous to DiVincenzo's criteria for quantum computing. The posited criteria are intended to foment and guide the development of useful autonomous quantum machines.
Reference: Marín Guzmán, Erker, Gasparinetti, Huber, and NYH,
arXiv:2307.08739 (2023).

Title: “Quantum Biology”: how nature harnesses quantum processes to function optimally, and how might we control such quantum processes to therapeutic advantage

Imagine driving cell activities to treat injuries and disease simply by using tailored
magnetic fields. Many relevant physiological processes, such as: the regulation of
reactive oxygen species; epigenetic changes to induce pluripotency; cell proliferation
and wound healing; cellular respiration rates; ion channel functioning; and DNA repair were all demonstrated to be controlled by weak magnetic fields (with a strength on the order of that produced by your cell phone), very likely via the electron quantum property of “spin”. Research has not been able to track spin states to manipulate physiological outcomes in vivo and in real time, without which the potential game-changing clinical benefits of “Quantum Biology” cannot be realized. With novel quantum instrumentation, we are learning to control spin states in cells and tissues, having as a goal to write the “codebook” on how to deterministically alter
physiology with weak magnetic fields to therapeutic advantage. In the long-term,
the electromagnetic fine-tuning of endogenous “quantum knobs” existing in nature will enable the development of drugs and therapeutic devices that could heal the human body — in a way that is non-invasive, remotely actuated, and easily accessible by anyone with a mobile phone.

Title: Geological Chemistry that could not Not have Inaugurated Life

Title: Life as No One Knows it

Generations of scientists have attempted to describe the fundamental properties of life and use these to solve life’s origins, but we have yet to succeed in these attempts. One approach has been to ask whether our current theories of physics are up-to-task. This was the approach adopted by the quantum physicist Erwin Schrodinger in his famous series of lectures addressing the topic “What is Life?”, which he delivered in 1943. Schrodinger argued that life can be shown to be consistent with the known laws of physics, but also that it cannot be explained by them. In this talk I briefly review motivations for why our current theories of physics are not suited to solving the problem of life. I then discuss some of the new principles that might be necessary to solve to the origin of life, and how these introduce a reframing of a fundamental understanding of what life might be.

Title: A bioenergetic explanation for the origin of life and the emergence of consciousness

All life is powered by electrochemical proton gradients across membranes, giving rise to electromagnetic fields that integrate metabolism and genetics. I will show that, at the origin of life, geologically sustained proton gradients across labyrinthine micropores in hydrothermal systems likely powered CO2 fixation and protometabolism right through to nucleotide synthesis inside protocells. Biophysical interactions between amino acids and RNA aptamers explains the emergence of the genetic code and biological information in this setting. Electrical membrane potential and associated electromagnetic fields integrate metabolism and genetics at the level of cells. I will show that these mechanisms offer a minimum selectable ‘stream of consciousness’, and will discuss how anaesthetics interact with this bioenergetic system through a spintronic mechanism in modern neurons and nervous systems.