Scientists witness quantum superchemistry in action for the first time

Amazing stuff!

"Researchers at the University of Chicago have detected the first physical evidence of what they're calling "quantum superchemistry." During this phenomenon, particles existing in the same quantum state undergo collective accelerated reactions. While this phenomenon was predicted before, it's only now been confirmed through experiments conducted at the university's laboratory. ...

The team's experiment centered around cesium atoms, which they cooled down and manipulated into a shared quantum state. The researchers then observed the reactions that followed, which occurred as three-body interactions, with two atoms forming a molecule while the third remained single but played a role in the reaction. ..."

From the abstract:

"Chemical reactions in the quantum degenerate regime are described by the mixing of matter-wave fields. In many-body reactions involving bosonic reactants and products, such as coupled atomic and molecular Bose–Einstein condensates, quantum coherence and bosonic enhancement are key features of the reaction dynamics. However, the observation of these many-body phenomena, also known as ‘superchemistry’, has been elusive so far. Here we report the observation of coherent and collective reactive coupling between Bose-condensed atoms and molecules near a Feshbach resonance. Starting from an atomic condensate, the reaction begins with the rapid formation of molecules, followed by oscillations of their populations during the equilibration process. We observe faster oscillations in samples with higher densities, indicating bosonic enhancement. We present a quantum field model that captures the dynamics well and allows us to identify three-body recombination as the dominant reaction process. Our findings deepen our understanding of quantum many-body chemistry and offer insights into the control of chemical reactions at quantum degeneracy."

Scientists witness "quantum superchemistry" in action for the first time

Many-body chemical reactions in a quantum degenerate gas (no public access)

A quantum microwave radar that outperforms classical radar by 20%

Amazing stuff!

"... A research team recently developed a quantum radar that could significantly outperform all existing radars based on classical approaches. This new radar ... concurrently measures an entangled probe and the idler microwave photon states occurring once this probe reflects from target objects, merging with thermal noise. ...
Several past studies tried to develop quantum radars that outperformed conventional radars. This quantum advantage was eventually realized using optical systems, yet before this study it was not yet achieved using microwave radiation. ..."

From the abstract:

"A central goal of any quantum technology consists in demonstrating an advantage in their performance compared to the best possible classical implementation. A quantum radar improves the detection of a target placed in a noisy environment by exploiting quantum correlations between two modes, probe and idler. The predicted quantum enhancement is not only less sensitive to loss than most quantum metrological applications, but it is also supposed to improve with additional noise. Here we demonstrate a superconducting circuit implementing a microwave quantum radar that can provide more than 20% better performance than any possible classical radar. The scheme involves joint measurement of entangled probe and idler microwave photon states after the probe has been reflected from the target and mixed with thermal noise. By storing the idler state in a resonator, we mitigate the detrimental impact of idler loss on the quantum advantage. Measuring the quantum advantage over a wide range of parameters, we find that the purity of the initial probe-idler entangled state is the main limiting factor and needs to be considered in any practical application."

A quantum radar that outperforms classical radar by 20%

Quantum advantage in microwave quantum radar (no public access)

Quantum entanglement doubles microscope resolution

Good news! Impressive! Possibly a breakthrough! Pardon, this news is not exactly fresh as it was published already by 5/1/2023!

"... Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in the US have now discovered a way to use this quantum property to double the resolution of optical microscopes. The new technique, dubbed quantum microscopy by coincidence (QMC), illustrates the advantage of quantum microscopes over classical ones ..."

From the abstract:

"Entangled biphoton sources exhibit nonclassical characteristics and have been applied to imaging techniques such as ghost imaging, quantum holography, and quantum optical coherence tomography. The development of wide-field quantum imaging to date has been hindered by low spatial resolutions, speeds, and contrast-to-noise ratios (CNRs). Here, we present quantum microscopy by coincidence (QMC) with balanced pathlengths, which enables super-resolution imaging at the Heisenberg limit with substantially higher speeds and CNRs than existing wide-field quantum imaging methods. QMC benefits from a configuration with balanced pathlengths, where a pair of entangled photons traversing symmetric paths with balanced optical pathlengths in two arms behave like a single photon with half the wavelength, leading to a two-fold resolution improvement. Concurrently, QMC resists stray light up to 155 times stronger than classical signals. The low intensity and entanglement features of biphotons in QMC promise nondestructive bioimaging. QMC advances quantum imaging to the microscopic level with significant improvements in speed and CNR toward the bioimaging of cancer cells. We experimentally and theoretically prove that the configuration with balanced pathlengths illuminates an avenue for quantum-enhanced coincidence imaging at the Heisenberg limit."

Quantum entanglement doubles microscope resolution – Physics World

Quantum Entanglement of Photons Doubles Microscope Resolution (primary news source)

Quantum microscopy of cells at the Heisenberg limit (open access)

Fig. 1: Experimental setup of QMC.

Fig. 4: Imaging of cancer cells with QMC.

Is Perpetual Motion Possible at the Quantum Level?

An intriguing question! If confirmed that would be a huge discovery!

Caveat: I did not have time to read the transcript nor listen to the podcast.

Is Perpetual Motion Possible at the Quantum Level? | Quanta Magazine A new phase of matter called a “time crystal” plays with our expectations of thermodynamics. The physicist Vedika Khemani talks with Steven Strogatz about its surprising quantum behavior.

Scientists open door to manipulating 'quantum light'

Amazing stuff! Down to a single photon!

"For the first time, scientists ... have demonstrated the ability to manipulate and identify small numbers of interacting photons ... with high correlation. ...
Specifically, the scientists could measure the direct time delay between one photon and a pair of bound photons scattering off a single quantum dot, a type of artificially created atom. ...

"We observed that one photon was delayed by a longer time compared to two photons. With this really strong photon-photon interaction, the two photons become entangled in the form of what is called a two-photon bound state."

Quantum light like this has an advantage in that it can, in principle, make more sensitive measurements with better resolution using fewer photons. ..."

From the abstract:

"The interaction between photons and a single two-level atom constitutes a fundamental paradigm in quantum physics. The nonlinearity provided by the atom leads to a strong dependence of the light–matter interface on the number of photons interacting with the two-level system within its emission lifetime. This nonlinearity unveils strongly correlated quasiparticles known as photon bound states, giving rise to key physical processes such as stimulated emission and soliton propagation. Although signatures consistent with the existence of photon bound states have been measured in strongly interacting Rydberg gases, their hallmark excitation-number-dependent dispersion and propagation velocity have not yet been observed. Here we report the direct observation of a photon-number-dependent time delay in the scattering off a single artificial atom—a semiconductor quantum dot coupled to an optical cavity. By scattering a weak coherent pulse off the cavity–quantum electrodynamics system and measuring the time-dependent output power and correlation functions, we show that single photons and two- and three-photon bound states incur different time delays, becoming shorter for higher photon numbers. This reduced time delay is a fingerprint of stimulated emission, where the arrival of two photons within the lifetime of an emitter causes one photon to stimulate the emission of another."

Scientists open door to manipulating 'quantum light'

Photon bound state dynamics from a single artificial atom (open access)

Fig. 1: Photon-number-dependent pulse scattering.

Doubling a qubit’s life, researchers prove a key theory of quantum physics

Amazing stuff! Could be a breakthrough! Extending classical error correction to quantum physics! Again machine learning was applied in this research!

"Researchers at Yale have for the first time, using a process known as quantum error correction, substantially extended the lifetime of a quantum bit — a long-sought-after goal and one of the trickiest challenges in the field of quantum physics. ...
decades after its theoretical foundations were proposed — that quantum error correction works in practice.  ...

Quantum systems, though, are fragile. They are bedeviled by a fundamental phenomenon of decoherence, a process in which the information stored in qubits quickly loses its quantum properties as a result of their interactions with the surrounding environment. 

Quantum error correction, which was theoretically discovered in 1995, offers a means to combat this decoherence. Employing redundancy, it protects the quantum bit of information by encoding it in a system larger than what, in principle, is needed to represent a single qubit. ..."

From the abstract:

"The ambition of harnessing the quantum for computation is at odds with the fundamental phenomenon of decoherence. The purpose of quantum error correction (QEC) is to counteract the natural tendency of a complex system to decohere. This cooperative process, which requires participation of multiple quantum and classical components, creates a special type of dissipation that removes the entropy caused by the errors faster than the rate at which these errors corrupt the stored quantum information. Previous experimental attempts to engineer such a process faced the generation of an excessive number of errors that overwhelmed the error-correcting capability of the process itself. Whether it is practically possible to utilize QEC for extending quantum coherence thus remains an open question. Here we answer it by demonstrating a fully stabilized and error-corrected logical qubit whose quantum coherence is substantially longer than that of all the imperfect quantum components involved in the QEC process, beating the best of them with a coherence gain of G = 2.27 ± 0.07. We achieve this performance by combining innovations in several domains including the fabrication of superconducting quantum circuits and model-free reinforcement learning."

Doubling a qubit’s life, researchers prove a key theory of quantum physics | Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science

Real-time quantum error correction beyond break-even (no public access)

Fig. 1: Experimental system

Why Is 1/137 the Fine Structure Constant One of the Greatest Unsolved Problems In Physics?

Very recommendable!

Strange New Phase of Matter Created in Quantum Computer Acts Like It Has Two Time Dimensions

Amazing stuff! This kind of physics is not easy to follow for a lay person. 

What little we still know about time! How different is the behavior of time in the macrocosm versus microcosm and relative to the speed of light?

"By shining a laser pulse sequence inspired by the Fibonacci numbers at atoms inside a quantum computer, physicists have created a remarkable, never-before-seen phase of matter. The phase has the benefits of two time dimensions despite there still being only one singular flow of time
This mind-bending property offers a sought-after benefit: Information stored in the phase is far more protected against errors than with alternative setups currently used in quantum computers. As a result, the information can exist without getting garbled for much longer ...
The workhorses of the team’s quantum computer are 10 atomic ions of an element called ytterbium. Each ion is individually held and controlled by electric fields produced by an ion trap, and can be manipulated or measured using laser pulses. ...
For the qubits, ... proposed in 2018 the creation of a quasicrystal in time rather than space. Whereas a periodic laser pulse would alternate (A, B, A, B, A, B, etc.), the researchers created a quasi-periodic laser-pulse regimen based on the Fibonacci sequence. In such a sequence, each part of the sequence is the sum of the two previous parts (A, AB, ABA, ABAAB, ABAABABA, etc.). This arrangement, just like a quasicrystal, is ordered without repeating. And, akin to a quasicrystal, it’s a 2D pattern squashed into a single dimension. That dimensional flattening theoretically results in two time symmetries instead of just one: The system essentially gets a bonus symmetry from a nonexistent extra time dimension. ..."

From the abstract:

"Nascent platforms for programmable quantum simulation offer unprecedented access to new regimes of far-from-equilibrium quantum many-body dynamics in almost isolated systems. Here achieving precise control over quantum many-body entanglement is an essential task for quantum sensing and computation. Extensive theoretical work indicates that these capabilities can enable dynamical phases and critical phenomena that show topologically robust methods to create, protect and manipulate quantum entanglement that self-correct against large classes of errors. However, so far, experimental realizations have been confined to classical (non-entangled) symmetry-breaking orders. In this work, we demonstrate an emergent dynamical symmetry-protected topological phase, in a quasiperiodically driven array of ten 171Yb+ hyperfine qubits in Quantinuum’s System Model H1 trapped-ion quantum processor. This phase shows edge qubits that are dynamically protected from control errors, cross-talk and stray fields. Crucially, this edge protection relies purely on emergent dynamical symmetries that are absolutely stable to generic coherent perturbations. This property is special to quasiperiodically driven systems: as we demonstrate, the analogous edge states of a periodically driven qubit array are vulnerable to symmetry-breaking errors and quickly decohere. Our work paves the way for implementation of more complex dynamical topological orders that would enable error-resilient manipulation of quantum information."

Strange New Phase of Matter Created in Quantum Computer Acts Like It Has Two Time Dimensions By subjecting a quantum computer’s qubits to quasi-rhythmic laser pulses based on the Fibonacci sequence, physicists demonstrated a way of storing quantum information that is less prone to errors.

Dynamical topological phase realized in a trapped-ion quantum simulator

Physicists harness quantum “time reversal” to measure vibrating atoms. Side effect: most accurate atomic clock ever

Amazing stuff!

"... In a paper ... the team demonstrates that the technique, which they dubbed SATIN (for signal amplification through time reversal), is the most sensitive method for measuring quantum fluctuations developed to date. ...
The technique could improve the accuracy of current state-of-the-art atomic clocks by a factor of 15, making their timing so precise that over the entire age of the universe the clocks would be less than 20 milliseconds off.
The method could also be used to further focus quantum sensors that are designed to detect gravitational waves, dark matter, and other physical phenomena. ...

For their new study, the team studied 400 ultracold atoms of ytterbium ... They cooled the atoms to just a hair above absolute zero ...

The team used a system of lasers to trap the atoms, then sent in a blue-tinged “entangling” light, which coerced the atoms to oscillate in a correlated state. They let the entangled atoms evolve forward in time, then exposed them to a small magnetic field, which introduced a tiny quantum change, slightly shifting the atoms’ collective oscillations.

Such a shift would be impossible to detect with existing measurement tools. Instead, the team applied time reversal to boost this quantum signal. To do this, they sent in another, red-tinged laser that stimulated the atoms to disentangle, as if they were evolving backward in time.

They then measured the particles’ oscillations as they settled back into their unentangled states, and found that their final phase was markedly different from their initial phase — clear evidence that a quantum change had occurred somewhere in their forward evolution. ..."

From the abstract:

"Linear quantum measurements with independent particles are bounded by the standard quantum limit, which limits the precision achievable in estimating unknown phase parameters. The standard quantum limit can be overcome by entangling the particles, but the sensitivity is often limited by the final state readout, especially for complex entangled many-body states with non-Gaussian probability distributions. Here, by implementing an effective time-reversal protocol in an optically engineered many-body spin Hamiltonian, we demonstrate a quantum measurement with non-Gaussian states with performance beyond the limit of the readout scheme. This signal amplification through a time-reversed interaction achieves the greatest phase sensitivity improvement beyond the standard quantum limit demonstrated to date in any full Ramsey interferometer. These results open the field of robust time-reversal-based measurement protocols offering precision not too far from the Heisenberg limit. Potential applications include quantum sensors that operate at finite bandwidth, and the principle we demonstrate may also advance areas such as quantum engineering, quantum measurements and the search for new physics using optical-transition atomic clocks."

Physicists harness quantum “time reversal” to measure vibrating atoms | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology A new technique could improve the precision of atomic clocks and of quantum sensors for detecting dark matter or gravitational waves.

Time-reversal-based quantum metrology with many-body entangled states (no public access)

Record-setting quantum entanglement connects two atoms across 20 miles (33 kilometers) of telecom fiber cables

Amazing stuff! Over telecom fiber links!

"... In their experiments, the team entangled two rubidium atoms kept in optical traps in two different buildings on the LMU campus. They were separated by 700 m (2,297 ft) of fiber optics, which was extended out to 33 km with extra spools of cable. ... While photons have been entangled over great distances before, this study marks a new distance record for entangling two atoms ..."

From the abstract:

"Quantum networks promise to provide the infrastructure for many disruptive applications, such as efficient long-distance quantum communication and distributed quantum computing. ... recently, entanglement distribution has also been achieved over telecom fibres and analysed retrospectively. Yet, to fully use entanglement over long-distance quantum network links it is mandatory to know it is available at the nodes before the entangled state decays. Here we demonstrate heralded entanglement between two independently trapped single rubidium atoms generated over fibre links with a length up to 33 km. For this, we generate atom–photon entanglement in two nodes located in buildings 400 m line-of-sight apart and to overcome high-attenuation losses in the fibres convert the photons to telecom wavelength using polarization-preserving quantum frequency conversion. The long fibres guide the photons to a Bell-state measurement setup in which a successful photonic projection measurement heralds the entanglement of the atoms. Our results show the feasibility of entanglement distribution over telecom fibre links useful, for example, for device-independent quantum key distribution and quantum repeater protocols. The presented work represents an important step towards the realization of large-scale quantum network links."

Record-setting quantum entanglement connects two atoms across 20 miles

Quantenphysik: Rekordverschränkung von Quantenspeichern Forschende haben zwei Quantenspeicher über eine 33 Kilometer lange Glasfaserverbindung miteinander verschränkt – ein Rekord und ein wichtiger Schritt hin zum Quanteninternet.

Entangling single atoms over 33 km telecom fibre (open access)

Credits: Synced Global AI Weekly

Quantum sensor can detect electromagnetic signals of any frequency

Amazing stuff! Possibly a game changer!

"... Now, researchers at MIT have developed a method to enable such sensors to detect any arbitrary frequency, with no loss of their ability to measure nanometer-scale features. ...
Quantum sensors can take many forms; they’re essentially systems in which some particles are in such a delicately balanced state that they are affected by even tiny variations in the fields they are exposed to. These can take the form of neutral atoms, trapped ions, and solid-state spins, and research using such sensors has grown rapidly. For example, physicists use them to investigate exotic states of matter, including so-called time crystals and topological phases, while other researchers use them to characterize practical devices such as experimental quantum memory or computation devices. But many other phenomena of interest span a much broader frequency range than today’s quantum sensors can detect.
The new system the team devised, which they call a quantum mixer, injects a second frequency into the detector using a beam of microwaves. This converts the frequency of the field being studied into a different frequency — the difference between the original frequency and that of the added signal — which is tuned to the specific frequency that the detector is most sensitive to. This simple process enables the detector to home in on any desired frequency at all, with no loss in the nanoscale spatial resolution of the sensor. ...

The system may open up new applications in biomedical fields ..., because it can make accessible a range of frequencies of electrical or magnetic activity at the level of a single cell. ... It may be possible using this system to detect output signals from a single neuron in response to some stimulus, for example, which typically include a great deal of noise, making such signals hard to isolate.

The system could also be used to characterize in detail the behavior of exotic materials such as 2D materials that are being intensely studied for their electromagnetic, optical, and physical properties. ..."

From the abstract:

"Quantum sensors ... Unfortunately, these sensors can only detect signal fields with frequency in a few accessible ranges, typically low frequencies up to the experimentally achievable control field amplitudes and a narrow window around the sensors’ resonance frequency. Here, we develop and demonstrate a technique for sensing arbitrary-frequency signals by using the sensor qubit as a quantum frequency mixer, enabling a variety of sensing applications. The technique leverages nonlinear effects in periodically driven (Floquet) quantum systems to achieve quantum frequency mixing of the signal and an applied bias ac field. The frequency-mixed field can be detected using well-developed sensing techniques such as Rabi and CPMG with the only additional requirement of the bias field. We further show that the frequency mixing can distinguish vectorial components of an oscillating signal field, thus enabling arbitrary-frequency vector magnetometry. We experimentally demonstrate this protocol with nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond to sense a 150-MHz signal field, proving the versatility of the quantum mixer sensing technique."

Quantum sensor can detect electromagnetic signals of any frequency | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT engineers expand the capabilities of these ultrasensitive nanoscale detectors, with potential uses for quantum computing and biological sensing.

Sensing of Arbitrary-Frequency Fields Using a Quantum Mixer

Quantum effects help make DNA unstable

Amazing stuff! Not sure how relevant this analysis is, but it should not be ignored.

"Quantum effects play a hitherto unexpected role in creating instabilities in DNA ... This conclusion, based on work by researchers... goes against long-held beliefs that quantum behaviour is not relevant in the wet, warm environment of cells, and could have far-reaching consequences for models of genetic mutation. ...
In the standard configuration, A always bonds to T while C always bonds to G. However, if the protons (nuclei of the hydrogen atoms) that make up the bonds hop from one strand of DNA to the other then a genetic mutation can occur. ..."

From the abstract:

"One of the most important topics in molecular biology is the genetic stability of DNA. One threat to this stability is proton transfer along the hydrogen bonds of DNA that could lead to tautomerisation, hence creating point mutations. We present a theoretical analysis of the hydrogen bonds between the Guanine-Cytosine (G-C) nucleotide, which includes an accurate model of the structure of the base pairs, the quantum dynamics of the hydrogen bond proton, and the influence of the decoherent and dissipative cellular environment. We determine that the quantum tunnelling contribution to the proton transfer rate is several orders of magnitude larger than the classical over-the-barrier hopping. Due to the significance of the quantum tunnelling even at biological temperatures, we find that the canonical and tautomeric forms of G-C inter-convert over timescales far shorter than biological ones and hence thermal equilibrium is rapidly reached. Furthermore, we find a large tautomeric occupation probability of 1.73 × 10−4, suggesting that such proton transfer may well play a far more important role in DNA mutation than has hitherto been suggested. Our results could have far-reaching consequences for current models of genetic mutations."

Quantum effects help make DNA unstable – Physics World

An open quantum systems approach to proton tunnelling in DNA (open access)

Physicists create first quantum phase battery

Good news!

"... The battery works using the so-called anomalous Josephson effect. ..."

"... a phase battery is a quantum device that provides a persistent phase bias to the wave function of a quantum circuit. It represents a key element for quantum technologies based on phase coherence. Here we demonstrate a phase battery in a hybrid superconducting circuit. It consists of an n-doped InAs nanowire with unpaired-spin surface states, that is proximitized by Al superconducting leads. ..."

Physicists create quantum phase battery – Physics World Researchers in Spain and Italy have constructed the first-ever quantum phase battery – a device that maintains a phase difference between two points in a superconducting circuit. The battery, which consists of an indium arsenide (InAs) nanowire in contact with aluminium (Al) superconducting leads, could be used in quantum computing circuits. It might also find applications in magnetometry and highly sensitive detectors based on superconductors.

Here is the link to the underlying research paper:

A Josephson phase battery (behind paywall; however if you click on link provided in the Physics World article, it will open up the PDF file)

Do quantum effects play a role in consciousness and more?

Very recommendable, but a long overview article! Lot's of amazing stuff! This great article touches upon a number of very interesting subjects!

"... hey found that increasing intelligence was associated with a shift in the biophoton’s frequency towards the red end of the spectrum ...
the role of biophotons – spontaneous ultra-weak near-ultraviolet to near-infrared photons in biological systems – is a growing field of research in neurobiology. ...
Just how light is involved in the signalling processes that constitute the central nervous system and its emergent property, consciousness, is still not clear. ...
the first detailed theory of quantum consciousness emerged in the 1990s from the ... Roger Penrose and ... Stuart Hameroff ... Their “orchestrated objective reduction” (Orch OR) theory has undergone a number of revisions since its inception ..., but generally it posits that quantum computations in cellular structures known as microtubules have an effect on the firing of neurons and, by extension, consciousness. ...
The application of quantum theory in a biological context has had most success with regards to photosynthesis but research on the avian compass, olfaction, enzymes and even DNA also suggest that quantum effects might be implicated more generally in the functioning of biological organisms. ...

The mitochondria use electron transport chains and proton gradients to create adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which powers biological processes. They are also the proposed primary site of biophoton production. ...
that chemicals with anaesthetic capabilities have chemical and structural properties that are very different from each other, ... on the similar physics that these substances might share. Anaesthetics can bind to various cytoplasmic and membrane proteins. ... anaesthetics facilitate electron currents in these proteins and that this might be demonstrated by looking at changes in quantum spin ...  that under the influence of xenon, the simplest of all the anaesthetics, fruit flies showed an increase in electron spin as measured through the use of electron spin resonance (though the origin of the signal is still debatable). ...
What is new is the progress made in understanding how quantum effects might contribute to electronic transfer processes in biological systems. In photosynthesis, there is some evidence that the movement of energy through the structures that constitute the photosynthetic network exploits quantum effects such as coherence ... Specifically, the structures that seem to allow this coherent transfer are chromophores ... Research suggests that instead of moving between the discrete energy levels of an arrangement of chromophores, energy can be spread out or delocalized across more than one chromophore at a time. ...
What is interesting in the context of quantum consciousness is that nerve cells contain structures such as microtubules and mitochondria that might support coherent energy transfer in a manner similar to that in photosynthesis. Microtubules ... provide shape and structure, and are instrumental in cell division as well as the movement of motor proteins. They are made up of polymers of tubulin proteins and within these are chromophores similar to those found in photosynthetic networks. Chromophores are also found in mitochondria, the power stations of the cell. This had led some researchers to suggest that anaesthetics work by disrupting coherent energy processes and in turn disrupting consciousness. ...
Until very recently there was no strong evidence that humans had a magnetic sense. However, a new experiment ... shows, incredibly, that starved humans can sense the geomagnetic field to orient themselves towards the remembered location of food, an orientation that appears to be blue-light dependent ...
It has also been shown ... that changes to the strength of Earth’s magnetic field cause changes in alpha brain waves – oscillations in the neural activity of the brain in the frequency range 8–12 Hz – in human subjects ...
In separate studies, changes in alpha waves have been associated with fluctuations in the production of biophotons, measured indirectly by fluctuations in reactive oxygen species, which play a role in cellular communication but are also responsible for numerous bodily problems. They are implicated in ageing, disease and depression and are the reason that antioxidants are so widely touted as being beneficial to health. What is interesting is that studies have shown how magnetic field mediated changes in the spin dynamics of the radical pair mechanism lead to increased reactive oxygen species. ...
Spin dynamics, the behaviour of quantum particles in a magnetic field, is also at the heart of another theory that suggests that quantum effects play a role in cognition. In this case, however, the spins in question belong to nuclei rather than electrons. Nuclei can have particularly long coherence lifetimes, meaning that their quantum effects persist over timescales long enough to play a role in neural firing and even, possibly, the function of memory. ...
that spin-entangled molecules known as Posner molecules might lead to nerves firing in a correlated fashion. ... that the spins of the phosphorus nuclei are entangled and that, furthermore, if this quantum entanglement can somehow be isolated from other quantum interactions it might last long enough to have an effect on cognition processes ...
Entangled Posner molecules are then taken up into neurons, bind and release calcium ions, triggering entangled neural activation. ... why lithium is successful in treating bipolar disorder. Should lithium replace the central calcium ion in a Posner molecule then the non-zero spin of the lithium ion could contribute to decoherence and have a knock-on effect on neural activation. ...
lithium is that different isotopes have been shown to have differing effects on the mothering behaviour of rats. A similar phenomenon has recently been recorded in the action of xenon, an anaesthetic. ... found that differing isotopes of xenon cause differing levels of unconsciousness ...
In another recent study, quantum dots ... were successfully used to undo the protein clumping linked to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease ... declining eyesight has been shown to improve through the amelioration of mitochondrial damage by red light treatment. ... Photobiomodulation, the application of red or near-infrared laser light, has also shown promise in treating various brain disorders, as well as improving attention, memory and learning ..."

Do quantum effects play a role in consciousness? – Physics World The role of biophotons in the brain is a growing area of research in neurobiology – and where there are photons there might be quantum mechanics. 

A new torque detector could spot quantum friction in a vacuum

Amazing stuff! This is not only mind boggling, this is mind spinning!

"The device is so sensitive that it could be used to observe the minuscule impact of vacuum friction, a counterintuitive quantum effect in which an object spinning rapidly in empty space feels drag — despite being surrounded by nothingness. The never-before-seen effect is predicted to arise from interactions of the spinning object with electromagnetic fields that, according to quantum mechanics, appear and disappear constantly, even in empty space"

A new torque detector could spot quantum friction in a vacuum | Science News: Scientists have developed a torque sensor made with a nanoparticle that can spin more than 300 billion times a minute.

Reversal Of The Arrow Of Time Discovered?

Posted: 1/5/2019 Amended: 1/12/2019  Updated: 3/16/2019

Update Of 3/16/2019

Just came across these new articles:

1. Arrow of time and its reversal on the IBM quantum computer (published 3/13/2019; appears to be the full article)
2. Physicists reverse time using quantum computer (published 3/13/2019; refers to above reference)

Unfortunately, I did not have the time to read both of these articles. However, I have the impression that this experiment is perhaps a bit too clever to prove the point.

“"However, Schrödinger's equation is reversible," adds Valerii Vinokur, a co-author of the paper, from the Argonne National Laboratory, U.S. "Mathematically, it means that under a certain transformation called complex conjugation, the equation will describe a 'smeared' electron localizing back into a small region of space over the same time period." Although this phenomenon is not observed in nature, it could theoretically happen due to a random fluctuation in the cosmic microwave background permeating the universe.” (New article 2; emphasis added)

“According to the authors, these errors are due to imperfections in the actual quantum computer.” (New article 2; emphasis added) Begs the question what else is due to these “imperfections”?

Original Post

If this is confirmed that would be huge! Apparently, more evidence for reversibility of time in the microscosmos has been discovered over the recent past (Source 1 lists such research).

How important are initial conditions [at the beginning of the universe?]? From chaos theory, we have already learnt that the initial conditions are critical for the path or trajectory of chaotic complex systems.

“... Here we report the experimental demonstration of the reversal of the arrow of time for two initially quantum correlated qubits (two spin-1/2 systems) prepared in local thermal states at different temperatures employing Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) techniques … For initially correlated systems, we observe a spontaneous heat current from the cold to the hot spin and show that this process is made possible by a decrease of the mutual information between the spins … It additionally establishes that the arrow of time is not an absolute but a relative concept that depends on the choice of initial conditions. ... Thus, an anomalous heat current does not seem to be restricted to extremely microscopic systems. The precise scaling of this effect with the system size is an interesting subject for future experimental and theoretical investigations.“

(Source 1; emphasis added)

One may freely speculate if the reversal of time is confirmed then e.g. the speed of light constraint is in question too and vice versa.

Sources:

1. Physicists Demonstrate How to Reverse of the Arrow of Time The extraordinary experiment opens the door to a new generation of devices and reveals a deeper relationship between time, entropy, and entanglement. (12/22/2017)
2. Reversing the thermodynamic arrow of time using quantum correlations (11/9/2017)