近日，华中科技大学的蔡建明ji其研究小组与湖北大学的刘海滨合作并取得一项新进展。经过不懈努力，他们探究化学磁感应中量子针的可能机制。相关研究成果已于2024年10月24日在国际知名学术期刊《物理评论A》上发表。

该研究团队利用优化技术，发现一类替代模型系统，该系统保留了量子针更为显著的特征，并显著放宽了对自由基对寿命的要求。更令人惊讶的是，研究人员发现量子针的特性在地磁场附近保持了一个狭窄的功能窗口，这是以往模型系统所不具备的。因此，这项研究工作为识别化学磁感应中量子针的可能物理机制提供了重要证据。

据悉，自由基对机制是一个重要的模型，可能为生物磁感应提供基础。为了解释真实鸟类指南针的高定向精度，Hore等人提出了一种有趣的现象，称为“量子针”（[Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 113, 4634 (2016)]），其中在分数产率信号中出现尖峰状特征。然而，人们认为量子针要求自由基对的寿命长于几微秒，因此在现实生物系统中带来了严峻挑战。

附：英文原文

Title: Identifying a possible mechanism for the quantum needle in chemical magnetoreception

Author: Xiaoyu Chen, Haibin Liu, Jianming Cai

Issue&Volume: 2024/10/24

Abstract: The radical pair mechanism is an important model that may provide a basis for biological magnetoreception. To account for the high orientation precision of the real avian compass, Hore et al. proposed an intriguing phenomenon called the quantum needle [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 113, 4634 (2016)], where a spikelike feature emerges in the fractional yield signal. However, it is believed that the quantum needle requires the radical pair lifetime to be longer than a few microseconds and thus poses stern challenges in realistic biological systems. Here, we exploit the optimization techniques and find an alternative class of model system, which sustains much more prominent features of the quantum needle and significantly relaxes the requirement for radical pair lifetime. Even more surprisingly, we find that the characteristics of the quantum needle retain a narrow functional window around the geomagnetic field, which is absent in the previous model systems. Therefore, our work provides essential evidence for identifying the possible physical mechanism for the quantum needle in chemical magnetoreception.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.110.042220

Source: https://journals.aps.org/pra/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevA.110.042220