Quantum criticality at the origin of life

[摘要] Why life persists at the edge of chaos is a question at the very heart of evolution. Here we show that molecules taking part in biochemical processes from small molecules to proteins are critical quantum mechanically. Electronic Hamiltonians of biomolecules are tuned exactly to the critical point of the metal-insulator transition separating the Anderson localized insulator phase from the conducting disordered metal phase. Using tools from Random Matrix Theory we confirm that the energy level statistics of these biomolecules show the universal transitional distribution of the metal-insulator critical point and the wave functions are multifractals in accordance with the theory of Anderson transitions. The findings point to the existence of a universal mechanism of charge transport in living matter. The revealed bio-conductor material is neither a metal nor an insulator but a new quantum critical material which can exist only in highly evolved systems and has unique material properties.

[发布机构] Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Eötvös University, Pázmány P. s. 1/A, Budapest; 1117, Hungary^1;Department of Chemistry, CMS - Centre for Molecular Simulation, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary; AB; T2N 1N4, Canada^2;Chemical Physics Theory Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 Saint George Street, Toronto; ON; M5S 3H6, Canada^3;Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle; WA; 98109, United States^4

[效力级别] 力学 [学科分类] 力学，机械学

[关键词] Anderson transition;Biochemical process;Conductor materials;Electronic Hamiltonian;Energy-level statistics;Quantum criticality;Random matrix theory;Universal mechanisms