A model for chiral selection

Chiral selection of bio-molecules is one of the basic mysteries of biology and it is interesting to see whether the existing bits of data combined with vision about quantum TGD could help to build a coherent picture about the situation. Let us first try to identify the most important pieces of the puzzle.

1. Chiral selection requires parity breaking in the scale of biomolecules. Standard model predicts parity breaking interactions but the effects are extremely small above intermediate boson length scale which is by a factor 10^-7 shorter than atomic length scale. The proposed solution of the problem is that dark variants of intermediate gauge bosons are in question so that the Compton lengths of intermediate gauge bosons are scaled up by a factor r=hbar/hbar₀. Below the dark Compton length weak gauge bosons would be effectively massless and above it possess ordinary masses. Large parity breaking effects induced by dark intermediate gauge bosons would be possible.

2. For instance, for r=2⁴⁴ for which EEG photons have energies just above thermal threshold at room temperature, the effective p-adic length scale would correspond to L (k), k=89+44=133 of about .2 Angstrom. This scale in turn would scale up to L(133+44=177). Secondary p-adic length scale assignable to k=89 which is important in zero energy ontology would correspond to k=2×89 = 178 which corresponds to about L(178) ≈ 100 μm, the length scale assignable to large cells and the thickness of water layers in the the experiments of Pollack and Zheng.

3. Parity breaking interaction is associated with spin and the interaction energy of form k s•E_Z, where s is the spin of particle and E_Z is Z⁰ electric field. Classical induced gauge fields are very strongly correlated in TGD since they are expressible in terms of four CP₂ coordinates and their gradients. Hence classical electromagnetic field E is in the generic case accompanied by classical Z⁰ field E _Z = aE. This means that if there is classical electromagnetic field and charge density at the dark space-time sheet, large parity breaking effect is possible at the level of spin. The induced Z⁰ electric field could force the spins to become parallel and in this manner induce also magnetization.

The crucial finding about which I learned three years ago is that L glutamate is more stable than R glutamate in water and that heavy water does not induce this effect (see this). This suggests a connection with Pollack-Zheng effect (see this and this) which I discussed in previous posting. Heavy water nuclei have vanishing spin whereas hydrogen nuclei have spin 1/2 so that H₂ in water molecules can be in spin singlet or triplet states (para and orto configurations). Could the nuclear spin of water molecules somehow induce parity breaking and the magnetic interaction distinguishing between these molecules?

1. Suppose that bio-molecules in question have magnetic moment and water carries magnetic field, most naturally at dark magnetic flux tubes. The parity breaking interaction energy -p•E with dark electric field remains invariant under reflection and rotation of π changing the orientation of the mirror image of the molecule with respect to electric field. The interaction energy with magnetic field however changes its sign since magnetic moment is not affected by the reflection but changes direction under rotation. The angular momentum of the molecule responsible for the magnetic moment can of course change sign but since the transformation involves acts on angular momenta only, it is not a symmetry of entire system. Indeed, if there is interaction between angular momentum degrees of freedom and geometric degrees of freedom the magnetic interaction energy for the mirror image is different. Suppose that the breaking of reflection symmetry induced by the chirality of the molecule induces internal electric field E_int. The parity breaking interaction energy k s•E _int would indeed break the symmetry in the transformation changing the directions of angular momenta and spins.

2. It deserves to be emphasize that the parity breaking of the molecule itself would induce the symmetry breaking if molecule possesses dark magnetic body. One can actually imagine a cascade of parity breakings proceeding from shorter to longer length scales in this manner.

3. The mechanism creating electric field could be the charging of water, perhaps by the Pollack-Zheng mechanism and having in TGD framework an interpretation as a basic mechanism storing the energy of sunlight to metabolic energy (kicking of electrons and/or protons to a smaller space-time sheet so that oppositely charge space-time sheets emerge as a consequence). A direct connection with metabolism would be admittedly a highly satisfactory feature of the mechanism.

4. Parity breaking energy k s•E for say dark protons assignable to hydrogen nuclei of bio-molecules in the internal electric field of the molecule or dark protons of water molecules in the electric field induced by Pollack-Zheng effect does not change sign under the reflection of the molecule so that spin polarization independent of chirality could result form both water molecules in crystal like phase and for bio-molecules possessing dark protons (and dark hydrogen atoms). This could in turn serve as a seed for magnetization essential for the existence of dark magnetic flux tubes.

If water is replaced with heavy water there is no difference between L and R. What distinction H and D could explain this difference?

1. The basic difference between water and heavy water nuclei is that for water nucleus is just proton having spin 1/2 so that H₂ in water molecule can be in spin triplet and singlet states. Fractions of the two states are 3/4 and 1/4 in the absence of external magnetic field.

2. On the other hand, in atto-second time scale (corresponding length scale is 3 Angstroms) water is known to behave effectively as H_1.5O [5,6,7,8]. A possible explanation is that 1/4:th of H nuclei/atoms are effectively dark having large Planck constant. The dark protons cannot correspond to H₂ in spin singlet state since the interaction energy ks•E would be small in this case. Dark spin triplet states of H₂ could however induce parity breaking in water and make crystal like water phase both electret and magnet. If the spin s _z=1 with negative interaction energy with E becomes dark then 1/4 of hydrogen atoms would be dark and H_1.5O formula would hold true. For D₂O this mechanism would not work.

3. The model for homeopathy led to the idea that dark nuclei consisting of scale up variants of nucleons possibly having size of order atomic length scale could be crucial for understanding living matter. The states of nucleons correspond naturally to those DNA, RNA, and aminocids and vertebrate genetic code emerges naturally with DNA code word replaced with 3 quark state with entanglement between the quarks representing the information. Could it be that dark protons of water combine to form dark nuclei providing a fundamental representation of the genetic code and could the spin of protons induce electro-weak chiral symmetry breaking. Also now this mechanism fails for D₂O.

For more detailed representation see the chapter Quantum Model for Nerve Pulse of "TGD and EEG". See also the earlier water memory related posting and the chapter Homeopathy in Many-Sheeted Space-Time of Bio-Systems as Conscious Holograms where also the nuclear realization of the genetic code is discussed.

References

[1] Mae-Wan Ho (2009), Water electric. Institute of Science in Society report.

[2] Zheng, Jian-ming, Pollack, G. (2003), Long-range forces extending from polymer-gel surfaces. [3] G. Pollack, X. Figueroa, Qing Z. (2009), Molecules, water, and radiant energy: new clues for the origin of life. International journal of molecular sciences 2009;10(4):1419-29.

[4]Z. Merali (2006), Water gave life on Earth a guiding hand, New Scientist, issue 2540, 25 February.

[5 ]M. Chaplin (2005), Water Structure and Behavior.

http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/index.html.

The description of 41 anomalies of water contains also explanation of H_1.5O anomaly.

[6] J. K. Borchardt(2003), The chemical formula H2O - a misnomer, The Alchemist 8 Aug (2003).

[7] R. A. Cowley (2004), Neutron-scattering experiments and quantum entanglement, Physica B 350 (2004) 243-245.

[8] R. Moreh, R. C. Block, Y. Danon, and M. Neumann (2005), Search for anomalous scattering of keV neutrons from H₂O-D₂O mixtures, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 185301.