The many roles of quantum tunnelling in chemical and biological evolution

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Trixler
Keyword(s):  
Particle Physics ◽  
Prebiotic Chemistry ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Geothermal Heat ◽  
Origin And Evolution ◽  
Quantum Tunnelling ◽  
Sufficient Energy ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Tunnelling Microscopy ◽  
The Many

<p>Tunnelling is a non-trivial quantum phenomenon which becomes effective at scales of around one nanometer and below. It enables elementary particles and atoms to negotiate an energetic barrier without having sufficient energy to overcome it. That seemingly paradoxical phenomenon might seem to be an exotic process only important for particle physics and quantum physical applications such as the Tunnel Diode or Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy.</p> <p>This review discusses why quantum tunnelling is of vital importance for prebiotic chemistry and molecular biology and how physical and chemical processes which are essential for the chemical and biological evolution can be traced directly back to the effect of quantum tunnelling. These processes include the chemical evolution within the cold interstellar medium and within stars, prebiotic chemistry in the subsurface and atmosphere of planetary bodies, the rise and persistence of habitable conditions via insolation and geothermal heat and the function of complex biomolecules. </p> <p>The contribution provides a highly multidisciplinary view on quantum tunnelling in the context of the research on the origin and evolution of life and shows that tunnelling makes significant complexification in molecular and biological evolution possible by providing different sources of constant energy flux over a long period of time, enables synthesis pathways for astrochemical reactions which would otherwise not occur, and enables or influences specific functions of biomolecular nanomachines that maintain the process of life.</p> <p><strong>Reference</strong></p> <ul> <li>Trixler. Quantum Tunneling to the Origin and Evolution of Life. <em>Curr. Org. Chem.</em> <strong>17</strong>(16), 1758-1770 (2013). DOI: 10.2174/13852728113179990083</li> </ul>

Analysis and Interpretation of Test Beam Data

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Wigmans
Keyword(s):  
Energy Resolution ◽  
Particle Physics ◽  
Particle Beam ◽  
Test Beam ◽  
Term Energy ◽  
The Many ◽  
Physics Experiment ◽  
The Way

This chapter describes some of the many pitfalls that may be encountered when developing the calorimeter system for a particle physics experiment. Several of the examples chosen for this chapter are based on the author’s own experience. Typically, the performance of a new calorimeter is tested in a particle beam provided by an accelerator. The potential pitfalls encountered in correctly assessing this performance both concern the analysis and the interpretation of the data collected in such tests. The analysis should be carried out with unbiased event samples. Several consequences of violating this principle are illustrated with practical examples. For the interpretation of the results, it is very important to realize that the conditions in a testbeam are fundamentally different than in practice. This has consequences for the meaning of the term “energy resolution”. It is shown that the way in which the results of beam tests are quoted may create a misleading impression of the quality of the tested instrument.

scholarly journals Combined quantum tunnelling and dielectrophoretic trapping for molecular analysis at ultra-low analyte concentrations

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Longhua Tang ◽  
Binoy Paulose Nadappuram ◽  
Paolo Cadinu ◽  
Zhiyu Zhao ◽  
Liang Xue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Limited Range ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Successful Operation ◽  
Detection Rates ◽  
Quantum Tunnelling ◽  
Conductive Substrate ◽  
Scanning Tunnelling ◽  
Tunnelling Microscopy ◽  
Transport Molecules ◽  
Magnitude Increase

AbstractQuantum tunnelling offers a unique opportunity to study nanoscale objects with atomic resolution using electrical readout. However, practical implementation is impeded by the lack of simple, stable probes, that are required for successful operation. Existing platforms offer low throughput and operate in a limited range of analyte concentrations, as there is no active control to transport molecules to the sensor. We report on a standalone tunnelling probe based on double-barrelled capillary nanoelectrodes that do not require a conductive substrate to operate unlike other techniques, such as scanning tunnelling microscopy. These probes can be used to efficiently operate in solution environments and detect single molecules, including mononucleotides, oligonucleotides, and proteins. The probes are simple to fabricate, exhibit remarkable stability, and can be combined with dielectrophoretic trapping, enabling active analyte transport to the tunnelling sensor. The latter allows for up to 5-orders of magnitude increase in event detection rates and sub-femtomolar sensitivity.

scholarly journals Applications for Microwave Kinetic Induction Detectors in Advanced Instrumentation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2671
Author(s):  
Gerhard Ulbricht ◽  
Mario De De Lucia ◽  
Eoin Baldwin
Keyword(s):  
Particle Physics ◽  
Material Science ◽  
Kinetic Inductance Detectors ◽  
Kinetic Inductance ◽  
Scientific Instruments ◽  
Thz Imaging ◽  
Observational Astronomy ◽  
Low Temperature Detector ◽  
Temperature Detector ◽  
The Many

In recent years Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs) have emerged as one of the most promising novel low temperature detector technologies. Their unrivaled scalability makes them very attractive for many modern applications and scientific instruments. In this paper we intend to give an overview of how and where MKIDs are currently being used or are suggested to be used in the future. MKID based projects are ongoing or proposed for observational astronomy, particle physics, material science and THz imaging, and the goal of this review is to provide an easily usable and thorough list of possible starting points for more in-depth literature research on the many areas profiting from kinetic inductance detectors.

Quantum Many-Particle Systems and Second Quantization

2019 ◽  
pp. 5-44
Author(s):  
Hans-Peter Eckle
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Particle Physics ◽  
Mathematical Formulation ◽  
Particle Systems ◽  
Quantum Field ◽  
Second Quantization ◽  
Creation And Annihilation Operators ◽  
Quantum Matter ◽  
Interacting Systems ◽  
The Many

Chapter 2 provides a review of pertinent aspects of the quantum mechanics of systems composed of many particles. It focuses on the foundations of quantum many-particle physics, the many-particle Hilbert spaces to describe large assemblies of interacting systems composed of Bosons or Fermions, which lead to the versatile formalism of second quantization as a convenient and eminently practical language ubiquitous in the mathematical formulation of the theory of many-particle systems of quantum matter. The main objects in which the formalism of second quantization is expressed are the Bosonic or Fermionic creation and annihilation operators that become, in the position basis, the quantum field operators.

Paleometry as a key tool to deal with paleobiological and astrobiological issues: some contributions and reflections on the Brazilian fossil record

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 575-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda L. S. Gomes ◽  
Bruno Becker-Kerber ◽  
Gabriel L. Osés ◽  
Gustavo Prado ◽  
Pedro Becker Kerber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Microbial Mats ◽  
Fish Bone ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
Cross Point ◽  
Origin And Evolution ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Bone Preservation ◽  
Fossil Preservation ◽  
Non Destructive

AbstractInvestigations into the existence of life in other parts of the cosmos find strong parallels with studies of the origin and evolution of life on our own planet. In this way, astrobiology and paleobiology are married by their common interest in disentangling the interconnections between life and the surrounding environment. In this way, a cross-point of both sciences is paleometry, which involves a myriad of imaging and geochemical techniques, usually non-destructive, applied to the investigation of the fossil record. In the last decades, paleometry has benefited from an unprecedented technological improvement, thus solving old questions and raising new ones. This advance has been paralleled by conceptual approaches and discoveries fuelled by technological evolution in astrobiological research. In this context, we present some new data and review recent advances on the employment of paleometry to investigations on paleobiology and astrobiology in Brazil in areas such biosignatures in Ediacaran microbial mats, biogenicity tests on enigmatic Ediacaran structures, research on Ediacaran metazoan biomineralization, fossil preservation in Cretaceous insects and fish, and finally the experimental study on the decay of fish to test the effect of distinct types of sediment on soft-tissue preservation, as well as the effects of early diagenesis on fish bone preservation.

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