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Category: quantum physics

DNA as a quantum system in evolution

Time may be viewed as an emergent consequence of increasing information entropy. I explore a toy quantum‑information model in which DNA is treated as an open quantum system. In this framework, weak, time‑dependent perturbations (potentially arising from thermal fluctuations, ionic microfields, metabolic noise, or electromagnetic signals) bias the micro‑timing of events during replication and repair. These slight timing shifts can influence the fate of transient electronic and protonic configurations (including short‑lived tautomeric states driven by proton‑transfer tunnelling), subtly altering mutation probabilities. To test this idea, I map nucleotides in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome to constrained qubit states and quantify informational structure using Shannon and von Neumann entropies and coding to non‑coding correlation metrics. Simulations of Hamiltonian dynamics under physiologically plausible perturbations show that real genomic segments exhibit distinctive dynamical signatures compared with controls. I also examine a variant in which a weak, slowly varying external signal is introduced as a background “beat” against which DNA dynamics can be compared. Because a Doppler shift in electromagnetic waves encodes the flow of time through the relative motion of source and observer, a cosmic microwave background (CMB) with a tiny frequency drift provides a conceptual clock and a source of informational entropy: it feeds a time‑correlated input into the DNA quantum system, allowing the molecule to sample cosmic time and translate it into a biological scale by modulating tunnelling probabilities and thus mutation patterns. This CMB‑inspired drive is simply a convenient illustration; the model does not rely on it, and other sources of weakly structured entropy could be tested. Across simulations, sequence‑dependent responses to both intrinsic and structured perturbations generate testable predictions: changing the structure or timing of these weak perturbations should produce reproducible shifts in mutation spectra. This framework connects cellular ageing and evolution to the flow of cosmic time and suggests experiments to probe DNA’s sensitivity to time‑dependent perturbations.

Citation: Garcia NA (2026) DNA as a quantum system in evolution. PLoS One 21: e0344520. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.

Editor: Yang Jack Lu, Beijing Technology and Business University, CHINA.

New Simulations Preserve Quantum Rules While Modelling Complex Materials

Until now, accurately modelling both spin and orbital motion in materials with spin-orbit coupling meant sacrificing computational speed. A new mixed quantum-classical model, based on Koopman wavefunctions, overcomes this limitation, accurately simulating these dynamics even where traditional methods fail. The approach reproduces full quantum results, particularly when a harmonic potential is present, opening new avenues for materials design.

Selectively eliminating old, damaged fat cells

A team from The University of Texas at Austin reviews recent advances in dilute noble metal films for infrared optics and plasmonics: https://bit.ly/4s9XHKR

To address a growing need for a sub-wavelength and nanophotonic optical infrastructure to support quantum applications, dilute noble metals provide a high-optical-quality approach for nanophotonics at long wavelengths.

With further research, their potential applications can even include mid-IR sensing, optoelectronics, and quantum photonics at long wavelengths.

The infrared optical response of noble metals is traditionally considered perfect electrical conductor (PEC)-like due to the noble metals’ exceptionally large electron concentrations, and thus large (and negative) real permittivity. While PEC-like behavior is ideal for a broad range of applications, for instance mirrors, gratings, and wavelength-(and macro-) scale resonators and antennas, the utility of noble metals for nanoscale (sub-diffraction-limit) physics at long wavelengths is limited. However, in ultra-low volume (dilute) metal films, such as those with nanometer-scale thicknesses or lithographic dilution (subwavelength perforation), the thin films’ sheet conductivity is massively reduced, enabling light to penetrate and interact with the films much more efficiently. This avails the infrared of a host of opportunities for noble-metal-based plasmonics, with the potential for nanoscale (deep subwavelength) confinement and strong light-matter interaction, otherwise prohibited with noble metals in this wavelength range. In this perspective, we review the recent advances in dilute metal films for near-and mid-infrared photonics and plasmonics, and discuss the advantageous properties of these optical thin films for potential applications in sensors, detectors, sources, and nonlinear and quantum optics.

Avihu28/Quantum-Safe-Bitcoin-Transactions: A way to enable Quantum Safe Bitcoin transactions that is available today

The Cost: You don’t need a supercomputer to stay safe. A standard off-chain GPU and a few hundred dollars can “harden” your transaction against a multi-billion dollar quantum machine.

A way to enable Quantum Safe Bitcoin transactions that is available today. — avihu28/Quantum-Safe-Bitcoin-Transactions.

Optical control of nuclear spins in molecules points to new paths for quantum technologies

Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have reported important progress in quantum physics and materials science by optically initializing, controlling, and reading out nuclear spin states in a molecular material for the first time. Because of their weak interaction with the environment, nuclear spins are particularly stable quantum information carriers. The research, published in Nature Materials, shows that molecular nuclear spins could be a promising building block for future quantum technologies.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is an established method for analyzing materials and molecules, with applications ranging from chemical analysis to quantum information processing. For a new paper, KIT researchers analyzed a molecular crystal containing europium ions. Such ions have especially narrow optical transitions that allow direct addressing of nuclear spin states. Using laser light, they were able to initialize nuclear spins in defined states and then read out those states.

In addition to optical addressing, the researchers used high-frequency fields to control the spins and protect them from interfering environmental influences. They achieved nuclear spin quantum coherence with a lifetime of up to two milliseconds, an interval during which a quantum system maintains a precisely defined quantum mechanical state.

Robust against noise, geometric-phase swap gates bring stability to quantum operations

Researchers at ETH Zurich have realized particularly stable quantum logical operations with qubits made of neutral atoms. Since these operations, called quantum gates, are based on geometric phases, they are extremely robust against experimental noise and can be used in quantum computers in the future.

Quantum bits, or qubits, which are required for building quantum computers, come in different kinds. In recent years, many research institutes and companies have focused on superconducting circuits and trapped ions. However, neutral atoms trapped with laser light also have a lot going for them: since they carry no electric charge, they are less sensitive to disturbances. Moreover, trapping with laser light makes it easy to realize several thousand qubits in a single system—using superconductors or ions this is much more difficult.

Nevertheless, neutral atoms have their own problems. In quantum computers, qubits exist in superposition states of the logic values 0 and 1. To perform calculations with them, one needs to execute quantum logic operations, also known as quantum gates.

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