Sensitivity and Entanglement in the Avian Chemical Compass

The Radical Pair Mechanism can help to explain avian orientation and navigation. Some evidence indicates that the intensity of external magnetic fields plays an important role in avian navigation. In this paper, based on a two-stage strategy, we demonstrate that birds could reasonably detect the dir...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors Zhang, Yiteng, Berman, Gennady P, Kais, Sabre
Format Paper Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 01.02.2014
Subjects
Electron transfer
Entanglement
Geomagnetic field
Geomagnetism
Navigation
Organic chemistry
Physics - Biological Physics
Physics - Quantum Physics
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Summary:The Radical Pair Mechanism can help to explain avian orientation and navigation. Some evidence indicates that the intensity of external magnetic fields plays an important role in avian navigation. In this paper, based on a two-stage strategy, we demonstrate that birds could reasonably detect the directions of geomagnetic fields and gradients of these fields using a yield-based chemical compass that is sensitive enough for navigation. Also, we find that the lifetime of entanglement in this proposed compass is angle-dependent and long enough to allow adequate electron transfer between molecules.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.1402.0038