CHAPTER ELEVEN
Quantum Non-locality and Coherence
11.1 EPR Paradox
Our worldview
assumes that cause effect relationships can exists only in proximity. If before Newton most phenomena were
explained by direct contact, the assumption of gravitational field – action at
a distance without actual contact was a great step forward. From then on we progressed to the phenomena
electric field and magnetic field and so on through field propagation where
something always travels and communicates to produce and effect. Thus came the concept that events that are
separated by time and space needs to be caused by some form of communication
between two parts. With the advent of
Einstein’s theory of relativity it came to imply that no influence or
meaningful communication could travel faster than the speed of light.
In 1935 Einstein,
with his collaborators Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen, published a paper now
known as "the EPR paper" which listed three major objections to
quantum mechanics. [ http://www.drchinese.com/David/EPR.pdf
] One of the major problem was based on
a situation where two particles which were essentially together so that they
formed a system with a state | a,b>
. If the two particles are then
separated very far apart and if there is a change in one particles according to
Quantum Mechanics it should affect the second particle instantaneously because
they still form a coherent system and should be considered as one state |a’,
b’>. This spooky action at a
distance violates all physical laws because no signals can travel faster than
light according to relativity.
In a system where two particles were created by materialization of energy,
if particle 1 has a spin of "up," particle 2 will have a spin of
"down." Conversely if
particle 1 has a spin of "down," particle 2 will have a spin of
"up." to conserve the spin
zero of the total system. If after a
period when the two particles are separated far, if the measure the spin of
particle 1 we will be able to determine the spin of particle 2 absolutely. No
matter how far apart is particle 2 from particle 1, Particle 2 will instantly
respond to the state of particle 1, even if it is on the other side of the
universe.
In 1964 John S Bell
9CERN
laboratory in Geneva), proved a theorem which demonstrated that certain
experimental tests could distinguish the predictions of quantum mechanics from
those of any local hidden-variable theory. In 1982
Alain Aspect performed this experiment in the University of Paris and proved
that somehow the Particle 2 knew exactly what was the state of Particle 1 and
responded to it.
At the instant we perform our measurement on particle 1, particle 2,
which may be thousands of miles away, will acquire a definite spin --
"up" or "down" if we have chosen a vertical axis,
"left" or "right" if we have chosen a horizontal axis. How
does particle 2 know which axis we have chosen? There is no time for it to receive
that information by any conventional signal. (Capra, 1982, p. 85).
"The two particles are, as it were, entangled with each other in a
pure or coherent state."
Quantum
non-locality proves that "particles that were once together in an
interaction remain in some sense parts of a single system which responds
together to further interactions" (Gribbin, 1984). Since the entire
universe originated in a flash of light known as the Big Bang, the existence of
quantum non-locality points toward a profound cosmological holism and suggests
that
If everything that ever interacted in the Big Bang
maintains its connection with everything it interacted with, then every
particle in every star and galaxy that we can see "knows" about the
existence of every other particle. (Gribbin, 1984).
Bell's result showed that EPR's assumption was mistaken. In 1989,
Greenberger, Horne and Zeilinger (GHZ)
sharpened Bell's results further by considering correlated states with 3 or
more entangled particles.
Thus quantum locality places a totally different worldview of the world
we are living in. It can no longer be
considered isolated particles or beings.
We are a system taken as a whole.
"That the guiding wave, in
the general case, propagates not in ordinary three-space but in multidimensional-configuration
space is the origin of the notorious 'nonlocality' of quantum mechanics...” John
Bell
All
of a sudden Physics is faced with the reality of a guiding potential beyond the
four dimensions of space and time. This
reality is all encompassing to the extent that it cannot but be thought of as a
unity – a coherent state as a whole, everything move and have their being in
Him.
11.2 Holistic Theology
"We work as if the world could be dissected into small independent
pieces. This is an illusion, because, as Bell's theorem shows, the entire world
is interdependent. But there is no other way of working. (...) One may
speculate whether, in a complete description of the whole Universe, including
our brains, determinism would be restored." [Asher. Peres, "Existence
of "Free Will" as a Problem of Physics", Found. Phys.
16(6) 573 (1986), p. 580].
In the Classical Newtonian Physics we use the
concept of isolating a system as though it is an isolated universe and study
its process. This is the reductionist
approach. This is the basic scientific method because that is the only way we
can study our world. Even in Newtonian
Physics it was understood that the effect of assuming the isolation involved
approximation. Newtonian Physics was
essentially macroscopic in nature and studied matter in bulk. The effect of the extensive universe outside
of the system could be reduced to infinitesimal by moving it far away. Note that we are only making the effect
infinitesimal.
11.3 The Consciousness of Ego and Separateness
Why
does the world appear to consist of distinct objects occupying distinct
positions in a well-defined
space-time? If nature is fundamentally a unity because of quantum entanglement,
why is it possible to know something without knowing everything? For this we need to look into the concept of
wave packets and interference of waves.
In the wave
mechanics or particles, every particle can be considered as a wave, which has a
maximum around the point where the particle is considered to exist. Nevertheless, the wave itself is infinite in
extension. In other words, every
particle in the universe fills the cosmos. The appearance of localization comes
in only with interference due to conglomeration. These are called wave
packets. When large number of waves of
slightly different frequencies fall one on the other we get the localized
waves, which can act as a particle.
These are sometimes called solitons.
In a non-dispersive media, they can live indefinitely long period
without decay. However, as they enter a
dispersive media where the speed depends on the wavelength they begin to
dissipate and die out. This is a
classical result. Hence, we should not
be surprised at the Wave Mechanical results in tallying with the Quantum
Theory.
A Wave packet is produced as a result of
superposition of waves
Phaser diagram showing how coherent beans where 
= 0 gives the maximum amplitude.
The consciousness
that I am a separate independent being is caused by vibrations that are our of phase with others. This selfish individualism can go smooth as
long as there is no conflict of interest.
Once that sets in, the brings forth gradual death and
disappearance. The cells in the human body
do not compete for survival as do single celled animals. They have a steady
supply of food and nearly ideal living conditions. The price they pay for this
is to loose their freedom to reproduce independently of the needs of the body
they are part of. As long as they live in harmony things go well and growth
will take place. If they short circuit the safety system of DNA building, then
they grow into cancer cells and they destroy the environment that gave them
life.
However when there
is coherence and resonance this feeling of I, YOU and HE will vanish and there
will be a ONE - WE. The concept of God
as One God with many persons is Trinity Theology is based on this.
As we began to
study atoms, subatomic matter and particles it became evident that there are
dimensions of existence, which we cannot really isolate. Stronger and stronger
forces come into play in the smaller dimensions. This is what led us to the
holistic statement, which states that the whole is not equal to the sum of the
parts and the whole cannot be fully understood in terms of its parts alone in
the limited dimensions of our realm.
These dimensions extent not only in expanse (in spatial extent) but also
in inspanse (in inner space). This was
the basis of the Hidden Variable Theories.
This is nothing new. Spinoza, propounded that all the differences and apparent
divisions we see in the world are really only aspects of an underlying single
substance, which he called God or nature.
Quantum Field Theory follows this concept and tries to describe all
existence as an excitation of the underlying quantum vacuum state. Hegel also
held a similar view. Marx in his
dialectical materialism also held that new qualities came into existence due
quantitative changes, which he attributed to the nature of matter.
11.4 Macroscopic Quantum Coherence
This
typically involves the spaciotemporal organization of the multiparticle
system. (This is closely related to what is called 'Bose-Einstein
condensation'.)
"What
is quantum coherence? This refers to circumstances when large numbers of
particles can collectively cooperate in a single quantum state..."
Roger Penrose
The term
"coherence" connected with the non locality phenomena opens up vistas of opportunities to explain
things, which we have thought outside the purview of science.
Many-particle states may exhibit macroscopic
quantum coherence. These have
been shown to give rise to strange phenomena like super conductivity, super
fluidity and lasers, which belies classical explanation.
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/cond-mat/pdf/0103/0103293.pdf
http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/2001/ketterle-symp.pdf
The coherence in these phenomena are related to the Bose-Einstein
condensation. Theoretically this is a
phenomenon where bosons making up a substance merge into the lowest energy
level, into a shared quantum state and acts as a coherent whole. All particles become exactly alike and cannot
be distinguished. They have the same
quantum numbers and same energies. You
cannot tell one from the other.
There are two types of particles in
Physics known as "bosons" and "fermions" .The dialectic
between them describes all physical form. The whole scheme of quantum field
theory (QFD) is based on how fermions interact by exchanging bosons. All force
is mediated by exchange of (gauge) bosons. For example the electromagnetic
force is mediated by exchange of photons, the strong force by exchange of
gluons and the weak forces are mediated by exchange of W and Z bosons.
The basic reason for this is the
properties of bosons and fermions. : “Bosons are gregarious, and fermions are
solitary.” Bosons therefore prefer
being together while fermions isolate themselves and pairs themselves if they
are permitted. When fermions pairs,
they pairs with one that have opposite spins and the combination produces
a stable system of virtual boson. It is this Cooper Pairs are composite bosons
in Helium, which can cause condensation to
produce the superfluidity.
The First created united Adam thus represents the boson and the
separated Adam and Eve pair represents the Fermion Cooper Pair. While separated and acting as an
independently the two produces de-coherence and jointly as a Cooper pair
produces the condensation of Family.
This idea can be extended beyond individuals to Families, Communities,
and Nations and to the whole Mankind and beyond. Decoherence brings in self as center and eventually brings destruction
and death.
"The
crucial distinguishing feature of Bose-Einstein condensates is that the many
parts that go to make up an ordered system not only behave as a whole, they
become whole; their identities merge or overlap in such a way that they lose
their individuality entirely. A good analogy would be the many voices of a
choir, which merge to become 'one voice' at certain levels of harmony, or the
plucking of the many strings of several violins to become 'the sound of
violins'..."
Danah Zohar, The Quantum
Self
Quantum
coherence has been demonstrated in the brain indicating that consciousness is
probably a direct consequence of this quantum coherence.
http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu/hameroff/New/Quantum_coherence/Quantum%20coherence.htm
There is strong evidence that memory storage is delocalized, at least over the
whole brain, and hence is able to survive large brain lesions. This suggests
that memory storage is holographic.
Perception is also holographic, so that the whole can be reconstructed
from even a small part just as a small portion of the lens can produce a total
image on the screen even though the intensity will be less.
11.5 Quantum Brain Dynamics
How
does the brain maintain dynamical coherence? One idea is that there is a
quantum coherent state underlying this, as has been articulately argued by Ian
Marshall.
[Marshall,I.N."Consciousness and Bose-Einstein Condensates."
New Ideas in Psychology, v.7, n.1 (1989) ] Even the idea of a Quantum Brain
Dynamics (QBD) is being talked about.
See "Quantum Brain
Dynamics" [L.M. Ricciardi and
H.Umezawa, Kibernetik 4 , 44 (1967)] ; The Emperor's New Mind (1989), and Shadows of
the Mind (1994) Roger Penrose .
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~philos/MindDict/quantum.html
http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/volume2-1/psyche-96-2-21-cybernetic-1-globus.html
The
wholeness of the organism is based on a high degree of quantum
coherence. The brain's primary function
may be the mediation of coherent coupling of all subsystems. Strong evidence
exists that memory storage is delocalized, at least over the whole brain. We can actually remove one lobe of the brain
and the other lobe can take over all the functions of the other lobe of
brain. This exhibits a holographic
memory system rather than localized storage. http://www.i-sis.org.uk/brainde.php
If
quantum coherence is characteristic of the organism as conscious being, as a
total personality, we can
construct wave-function for every
being. This wave function is ever evolving, entangling its environment,
transforming and creating itself anew.
This dynamic creative process is an ongoing process.
2Co 4:16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer
nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day.
Studies in the brain waves can give a hint of the processes that are going on in the brain.
http://www.music.gla.ac.uk/HTMLFolder/Research/BrainMus/musicfrombrainwaves.htm
"The human
brain produces a complex, multi-dimensional, pulsating, electromagnetic field
resulting from the electrochemical behaviour of masses of neurons acting in
small to very large groups" (Rosenboom, D. 1990. "Extended Musical
Interface with the Human Nervous System." Leonardo, Journal of the
International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology. Monograph
No.1.). The Electroencephalogram, EEG, is the mixed-frequency electrical signal
produced by this activity, and is measured from electrodes placed on the scalp.
EEG's can be
categorized into four main components:
1. Long-term coherent waves;
Long-term coherent waves are the
well known alpha, beta, delta, and theta rhythms,
which range from approximately 1 to 30 Hertz. They are often associated with certain states of
consciousness, such as alertness and sleep
short-term transient waves; and
complex ongoing waves.
2. Short-term transient waves,
These transient was are event-related-potentials (ERP's), reflect
the "singular experience" associated with an external stimulus.
3. Complex ongoing waves. This pattern is
expected to be the result of the ongoing, self-organization
of information during ones experience of life.
Here the brain adjusts itself
in terms of its interaction with the rest of the world.
4. Random noise background;
The random-seeming background,
about which little is known, is the residue observed
"after all known methods of waveform decomposition are exhausted."
There are other forms
of brain waves that can be used. Magnetoenchephalogram (MEG), measures the variations of the magnetic
fields associated with the discharge of neural action potentials, and
electrochemical activity within the brain. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI),
and Positron Emission Tomography (PET), provide a mapping of the activation of
individual cortical areas, and can contribute to the understanding of the
spatial-temporal activity of the brain under certain conditions. These wave studies are indicative of the
deeper levels of human existence.
11.6 De-coherence and Death
Coherence occurs due to
Boson like condensation, which is very similar to the resonance of sound when
two sources of same wavelength overlap. Decoherence is originated in the
interaction between the system and its environment. In other words an
entanglement between the state of the quantum system and with a wavelength, which
are different, or out of phase produces destructive interference in certain
areas. In that sense death is the result of dissonance or decoherence.
If
coherence produces consciousness it is logical to assume that de-coherence
should mean death of consciousness.
Then the estimation of de-coherence time should give an estimate of life
expectation. Again we are simply
talking about physical life and not really about life and soul and spirit. In a system with large coherence the life
will be very large while in a system with more de-coherence – the tendency to
split and separate – is more will die soon. This is what caused the death and
decay in the egoism of Angelic and Adamic fall. This death is a physical death
without affecting the other dimensions also. We are not talking about the
vegetable lifetime, but quality of living in human level or as Jesus put it of
“Abundant Life”. Death and decay are
the result of de-coherence is basic to Genesis theology. If we can associate death with de-coherence
we can extend it to other dimensions of coherence such as families,
communities , mankind as a whole and beyond.
Thus the life expectancy of a community is dependent on both the
coherence of the brain and also of the system coherence of the community. Civilizations lasted as long as the members
of the civilizations remain in unison.
When selfishness caused individuals to assert their own interests over
and above those of others, along with consequent immorality it resulted in the destruction of that
civilization. The message of the
Prophets throughout history was just that.
Flood
at the time of Noah, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Giving of the land
of Canaan to Israel, Captivity of Judah and Israel and the fall of all the
empires of the world testify to this. .
An obvious way of try to
prevent decoherence from damaging quantum states should be by reducing the strength of the coupling
between the system and its environment. Nonetheless, it is never possible to
reduce this coupling to zero and eliminate
Decoherence totally as long
as there is a different wavelength between the two dimensions. Hence we have two choices:
1. reduce the coupling as
far as possible
1Jo 2:14 I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men,
because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have
overcome the evil one.
1Jo 2:15 Do not love the world or the
things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in
him.
1Jo 2:16 For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of
the Father but is of the world.
1Jo 2:17 And the world passes away, and
the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Rom 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed
by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what
is good and acceptable and perfect.
The best way to keep the Schrodinger’s cat alive is to decouple
the mechanism of cynoid release from the cat’s cage.
2. Change the environment so
that the decoherence is minimized.
It may not be possible to
change the whole environment, but it is possible to build a Church so that
there will be coherence within the worshipping community. Church is defined in that way.
Phi 1:27 Only let your manner of life
be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am
absent, I may hear of you that you stand firm in one spirit, with one mind
striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,
Phi 2:2 complete my joy by being of
the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
Phi 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or
conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves.
Phi 2:4 Let each of you look not only
to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Phi 2:5 Have this mind among
yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus ….,
1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to
drink of one Spirit.
1Co 12:14 For the body does not consist
of one member but of many.
Eph 4:4 There is one body and one
Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call,
Eph 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one
baptism,
Eph 4:6 one God and Father of us all,
who is above all and through all and in all.
Thus the whole church
becomes an organism – the bride of Christ causing coherence to form phenomena
far greater than any single person can do.
11.7 Coherence and Faith in Action
Apparently the purpose of the church itself seems to be the creation of this
coherent force within the universe so that recreation can be achieved through
it. The power of the coherent focused
consciousness of many persons joined together with person of Godhead (Holy
spirit that resides in every believer) far surpasses every other power. If the early church was able to perform
signs, wonders and miracles it was because of this coherence. The power of
coherence is clearly stated by Jesus in his faith teachings.
Mat 17:20 He said to them, "Because of your
little faith. For truly, I say to you,
if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain,
'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to
you."
This refers to the coherence within the person itself. While self-coherence itself produces
creative forces, it is enhanced by the collective coherence of several.
Mat 18:19 Again I say to you, if two of
you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my
Father in heaven.
Mat 21:21 And Jesus answered them, "Truly, I say
to you, if you have faith and never doubt, you will not only do what has been
done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and
cast into the sea,' it will be done.
Mat 21:22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have
faith.
Extending this to a church
and community of saints the coherence
releases unimaginable creative powers in consonance with that of God. The purpose of the election of the church is
essentially for this purpose whereby a recreation and redemption of the universe
could take place.
All through the church
history the church emphasized the corporeal worship and prayers as an essential
part of its function. Coherence is
attained only through collective worship and prayers. The function of the liturgies, which are often criticized as
repetitive and redundant, is just this.
Even the aspect of mystery in the worship adds to this bosonic
condensation process.
Because man is the image of God as a Sons of God power to
create and destroy ate in the expressions of human consciousness. Since there are several such sources they
can cause coherence or de-coherence, cause immense creation or destruction.
Pro 16:1 The plans
of the mind belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD
Pro 18:21 Death and
life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
Resonant coherence is the greatest creative power.
The fall of Jericho is one
such fine example of the power of coherence.
It was not only the resonance of the trumpet sounds alone but also the
coherent power of the mind that collapsed the impregnable walls of
Jericho.
Mat 18:19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on
earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
In order to recreate the cosmos God uses the coherence in
the church.
2Ch 5:13 and it was
the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in
praise and thanksgiving to the LORD), and when the song was raised, with
trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD,
"For he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever," the house,
the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud,
2Ch 5:14 so that
the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of
the LORD filled the house of God.
11.8 Church:
The Worshipping Community as a Coherent System
From
the above analysis we can see that power lies in coherence. Salvation through faith believing with the heart
and confessing with the mouth is vigorously taught by the evangelicals. In this we have the coherence between the
heart and the mouth.
Rom 10:8 But what does it say?
The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of
faith which we preach);
Rom 10:9 because, if you
confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Rom 10:10 For man believes with
his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved.
Thus the salvation is based
on the concurrence and coherence of
heart and mind. But that is only the
beginning of the process.
The celebrated power of
faith follows from this creative power of coherence of the whole person.
Mat 21:21 And Jesus answered them,
"Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and never doubt, you will not only
do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain,
'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will be done.
Mat 21:22 And whatever you ask in
prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."
Notice the emphasis on “do not doubt” showing extreme coherence of
total personality. In fact we could
define faith as that.
.
Mar
11:22 And Jesus answered them,
"Have faith in God.
Mar 11:23 Truly, I say to you, whoever
says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt
in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done
for him.
Mar 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that
you have received it, and it will be yours
If the coherence of a single
person in his personality has that power, the scripture attributes much greater
powers of creation to he coherence of two people.
Mat 18:19 Again I say to you,
if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them
by my Father in heaven.
Mat 18:20 For where two or
three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
Notice that Jesus mentions
“anything they ask” making the statement broad enough to include all that
pertains to material realm. The
coherence of two is referred to by Peter for the power of husband and wife.
1Pe 3:7 Likewise you husbands, live
considerately with your wives, bestowing honor on the woman as the weaker sex,
since you are joint heirs of the grace of life, in order that your prayers may
not be hindered.
In comparing Church as the
body of Christ and also as the Bride of Christ, the implication is this
coherence which gives the body the awesome power of creation with Christ. But this comes in its fullest extend when
the Church is in unison with the will of Christ.
In order to establish the
unity and resonance, the institution of church uses various methods. It is in this that the value of rituals and
music and corporal worship and activites has any relevance. The church becomes the organic unity through
these modes. It has been long known that rituals bind families and people
together even when those rituals has no specific significance. Doing things together where minds and hearts
are brought together creates this unity.
In fact all religion rely on
these methods to produce coherence within its body and with the god whom they worship. It is this that
brings power within the religion. Since
man is created in the image of God this creative power is never taken away and
it is being exercised both for good and for evil in every community religious
or otherwise.
11.9 Consciousness and Anesthesiology
The
understanding of Consciousness as a Quantum phenomena has much more practical
application in medicine in the field of
Anesthesia. In the medical
scient two factos stand out.
1. consciousness is not
directly observable nor measurable, and
2. the mechanism of consciousness is unknown.
The science of anaesthesia is an empirical
science today. The theoretical
foundations are found in the century-old Meyer-Overton correlation [ Eger EI et al (1996) Anesth Analg 84:915] and in the recent
work by Franks and Lieb [Franks NP & Lieb WR (1982) Nature
300:487 ; Franks NP & Lieb WR
(1984) Nature 310:599-601]
It is proposed that
anesthetic gas molecules act by weak, physical interactions in hydrophobic
pockets of a class of brain proteins (e.g. receptors for GABAA, glycine, serotonin,
acetylcholine etc. and perhaps other proteins). By so doing, anesthetics
prevent functional protein conformational dynamics and consciousness. The
interactions by which anesthetics exert their effects are assumed to be van der
Waals London forces—quantum mechanical dipole couplings among electron clouds
of atoms and molecules.
In highly polarizable
hydrophobic pockets, these quantum dipole couplings occur between electron
clouds of non-polar amino acid residues and anesthetic gas molecules. Other molecules
also bind in the same pockets by London forces but do not cause anesthesia and
in some cases are convulsant. So true anesthetics must act by specific
London forces to prevent a process necessary for consciousness
Quantum theory describes the
bizarre properties of matter and energy at near-atomic scales.
These properties include:
·
quantum coherence (individual particles yield identity to a collective, unifying wave
function),
·
non-locality (spatially separated particle states are nonetheless connected, or
“entangled”),
·
quantum superposition (particles exist in two or more states or locations
simultaneously) and
·
“collapse of the wave function” (superpositioned particles reduce, or collapse to
distinct, definite states or locations—a mechanism utilized in quantum
computers).
These properties lend themselves to certain aspects of consciousness beyond
protein conformational regulation:
·
Quantum
coherence is connected to the unity of conscious “self”
[Marshall IN (1989) New Ideas in Psychology 7:73 ;
Jibu, M. and Yasue, K. (1995) Quantum
brain dynamics. John Benjamins, Amsterdam}
·
Non-local
entanglement is associated with memory, and
·
Quantum
superposition is related to multiple sub-conscious possibilities
·
And
Quantum Collapsing is related to
distinct choices or perceptions
[Penrose R (1989) The
Emperor's New Mind, Oxford Press, Oxford UK.
Stapp, H.P. (1993) Mind, matter and quantum mechanics. Berlin, Springer-Verlag
Penrose R. & Hameroff S. (1995) Journal of Consciousness Studies 2(2) 98
Hameroff S & Penrose R (1996) J Consciousness Studies 3(1):36.
Hameroff S (1998) Phil Trans Royal Society London (A) 356:1869]
and
·
Rapid
“decoherence” (loss of quantum state) due to environmental thermal interactions
[Tegmark M (2000) Phys Rev E
61:4194
Seife C (2000) Science 287:791]
[Anesthesia,
consciousness and quantum theory
Stuart R.
Hameroff M.D.
Professor,
Departments of Anesthesiology and Psychology
Associate
Director, Center for Consciousness Studies
The University
of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
www.consciousness.arizona.edu/hameroff
How do anesthetics
act?
{From Hameroff (1998)
Toxicology Letters100/101:31]
.
A. Schematized protein switching between two conformational states
governed by van der Waals London force interactions in a hydrophobic pocket.
Top: Protein switching
between 2 conformational states coupled to localization of paired electrons
(London force) within a hydrophobic pocket.
Bottom: quantum
superposition (simultaneous existence in two distinct states) of the electron
pair and protein conformation.
B. Top: Schematic of anesthetic (A) in hydrophobic pocket
retarding electron mobility thus preventing protein conformational change and
quantum coherent superposition.
Bottom: Convulsant molecule
(C) in hydrophobic pocket promotes electron mobility and protein dynamical
switching.