260143 SE Vertiefungsmodul Quantenoptik, Quantennanophysik und Quanteninformation (2008S)

The question about the relevance of quantum physics for biology is as old as quantum mechanics itself. And the opinions on this subject could hardly be more contradictory: While some would claim that biology is in fact applied chemistry and chemistry to be understood as applied quantum physics others would emphasize that quantum physics is completely irrelevant for biology.
In this seminar we will therefore analyze and discuss recent publications with regard to:
* Quantum physics in the visual system
* Quantum aspects of molecular motors
* Quantum physics and magneto-reception
* Quantum technologies for biophysical and medical applications
o Quantum dot markers for tracing messenger molecules in synaptic gaps.
* Applications of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
* Positron emission tomography
* Quantum interferometry for biomolecule metrology
* Quantum statistical correlations in photo-emission of the green fluorescent protein
* The relevance of proton tunneling in biology
* The quest for chirality superpositions in molecules
* Coherence transfer between biomolecules
* Entanglement witnesses and their applicability to biosystems?
* Wave packet superposition in molecules of biological relevance
* The physics of DNA computing and speculations about molecular quantum computing
* Decoherence free subspaces or quantum error correction in biological systems?
* Quantum physics in the brain: The Penrose-Hammeroff proposal and the Tegmark rebuttal
* "Quantum biology" as applied theoretical quantum chemistry and quantum simulation
* ¿

Modality of efficiency control: Short paper to be written by the students