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On Quantum Mechanical Aspects of Microtubules

N. E. Mavromatos·D. V. Nanopoulos
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Abstract

We discuss possible quantum mechanical aspects of 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 Fröhlich's ideas on the rôle of solitons for superconductivity and/or biological matter. By representing the MT arrangements as cavities,we present a novel scenario on 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 MT case.

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N. E. Mavromatos, D. V. Nanopoulos. 1997-08-11. On Quantum Mechanical Aspects of Microtubules. https://doi.org/10.1142/s0217979298000326

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