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Entropy
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Quantum Processes in Living Systems
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Special Issue "Quantum Processes in Living Systems"

A special issue of Entropy (ISSN 1099-4300). This special issue belongs to the section "Quantum Information".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 July 2023 | Viewed by 2860

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Alessandro Sergi

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Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Messina, Viale Stagno d’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
Interests: quantum-classical hybrid systems; non-Hermitian quantum mechanics; non-Hamiltonian systems; open quantum systems; quantum-biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Antonino Messina

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Palermo, 90133 Palermo, PA, Italy
Interests: quantum electrodynamics; open systems; time dependent spin Hamiltonians; quantum and semiclassical rabi models
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, experiments on energy transport in photosynthetic systems have revived the idea that quantum mechanics plays a fundamental role in living systems. This idea is almost as old as quantum mechanics—none other than Pascual Jordan and Erwin Schrödinger were the first to propose it. Phenomena such as quantum tunneling, exciton coherent propagation, resonances of molecular vibrations, entanglement as a tool for weak signals perception, quantum stability and modification of DNA, and even the ambitious project of unveiling the mysteries of the mind’s working are all applications of quantum mechanics that appear nowadays in scientific literature. Are these quantum phenomena really necessary for life? What are the other ingredients that are missing for a true understanding of life?

This Special Issue’s goal is to be a milestone for our current understanding of what life is from the point of view of quantum mechanics. Not only we are looking for contributions that review or give different interpretations of the already known quantum effects, but we welcome proposals of novel statistical mechanisms. Moreover, we will appreciate both experimental and theoretical papers as long as they contribute to discussing their results within the wider perspective of assessing the quantum nature of life processes.

Prof. Dr. Alessandro Sergi
Prof. Dr. Antonino Messina
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Entropy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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Article
A Quantum–Classical Model of Brain Dynamics
by
Alessandro Sergi
,
Antonino Messina
,
Carmelo M. Vicario
and
Gabriella Martino
Entropy 2023, 25(4), 592; https://doi.org/10.3390/e25040592 - 30 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 750
Abstract
The study of the human psyche has elucidated a bipartite structure of logic reflecting the quantum–classical nature of the world. Accordingly, we posited an approach toward studying the brain by means of the quantum–classical dynamics of a mixed Weyl symbol. The mixed Weyl [...] Read more.
The study of the human psyche has elucidated a bipartite structure of logic reflecting the quantum–classical nature of the world. Accordingly, we posited an approach toward studying the brain by means of the quantum–classical dynamics of a mixed Weyl symbol. The mixed Weyl symbol can be used to describe brain processes at the microscopic level and, when averaged over an appropriate ensemble, can provide a link to the results of measurements made at the meso and macro scale. Within this approach, quantum variables (such as, for example, nuclear and electron spins, dipole momenta of particles or molecules, tunneling degrees of freedom, and so on) can be represented by spinors, whereas the electromagnetic fields and phonon modes can be treated either classically or semi-classically in phase space by also considering quantum zero-point fluctuations. Quantum zero-point effects can be incorporated into numerical simulations by controlling the temperature of each field mode via coupling to a dedicated Nosé–Hoover chain thermostat. The temperature of each thermostat was chosen in order to reproduce quantum statistics in the canonical ensemble. In this first paper, we introduce a general quantum–classical Hamiltonian model that can be tailored to study physical processes at the interface between the quantum and the classical world in the brain. While the approach is discussed in detail, numerical calculations are not reported in the present paper, but they are planned for future work. Our theory of brain dynamics subsumes some compatible aspects of three well-known quantum approaches to brain dynamics, namely the electromagnetic field theory approach, the orchestrated objective reduction theory, and the dissipative quantum model of the brain. All three models are reviewed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Quantum Processes in Living Systems)

Review

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Review
A Computational Quantum-Based Perspective on the Molecular Origins of Life’s Building Blocks
by
Gabriele Amante
,
Judit E. Sponer
,
Jiri Sponer
,
Franz Saija
and
Giuseppe Cassone
Entropy 2022, 24(8), 1012; https://doi.org/10.3390/e24081012 - 22 Jul 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1181
Abstract
The search for the chemical origins of life represents a long-standing and continuously debated enigma. Despite its exceptional complexity, in the last decades the field has experienced a revival, also owing to the exponential growth of the computing power allowing for efficiently simulating [...] Read more.
The search for the chemical origins of life represents a long-standing and continuously debated enigma. Despite its exceptional complexity, in the last decades the field has experienced a revival, also owing to the exponential growth of the computing power allowing for efficiently simulating the behavior of matter—including its quantum nature—under disparate conditions found, e.g., on the primordial Earth and on Earth-like planetary systems (i.e., exoplanets). In this minireview, we focus on some advanced computational methods capable of efficiently solving the Schrödinger equation at different levels of approximation (i.e., density functional theory)—such as ab initio molecular dynamics—and which are capable to realistically simulate the behavior of matter under the action of energy sources available in prebiotic contexts. In addition, recently developed metadynamics methods coupled with first-principles simulations are here reviewed and exploited to answer to old enigmas and to propose novel scenarios in the exponentially growing research field embedding the study of the chemical origins of life. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Quantum Processes in Living Systems)
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