Toward Quantum Superposition of Living Organisms

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to create quantum superpositions of living organisms, like viruses, inside optical cavities, enabling experimental tests of quantum mechanics at the intersection of life and quantum theory.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to cool and superpose living organisms, such as viruses, in quantum states, bridging quantum physics and biology.

Findings

Method for cooling and superposing dielectric objects

Feasibility of applying to viruses and small organisms

Potential to test quantum effects in living systems

Abstract

The most striking feature of quantum mechanics is the existence of superposition states, where an object appears to be in different situations at the same time. The existence of such states has been tested with small objects, like atoms, ions, electrons and photons, and even with molecules. More recently, it has been possible to create superpositions of collections of photons, atoms, or Cooper pairs. Current progress in optomechanical systems may soon allow us to create superpositions of even larger objects, like micro-sized mirrors or cantilevers, and thus to test quantum mechanical phenomena at larger scales. Here we propose a method to cool down and create quantum superpositions of the motion of sub-wavelength, arbitrarily shaped dielectric objects trapped inside a high--finesse cavity at a very low pressure. Our method is ideally suited for the smallest living organisms, such as viruses, which survive under low vacuum pressures, and optically behave as dielectric objects. This opens up the possibility of testing the quantum nature of living organisms by creating quantum superposition states in very much the same spirit as the original Schr\"odinger's cat "gedanken" paradigm. We anticipate our essay to be a starting point to experimentally address fundamental questions, such as the role of life and consciousness in quantum mechanics.