Open quantum dynamics for plant motions

TL;DR

This paper explores the analogy between open quantum system dynamics and biological plant movements, proposing that biological information processing operates near fundamental physical limits and influences aging.

Contribution

It introduces a novel perspective linking quantum stochastic models to biological systems, specifically modeling plant motions as information-processing entities.

Findings

Plants' heliotropic and gravitropic motions modeled as quantum-like information processing

Biological systems may operate near the Landauer limit of computation

Information loss is linked to aging in biological systems

Abstract

Stochastic Schr\"odinger equations that govern the dynamics of open quantum systems are given by the equations for signal processing. In particular, the Brownian motion that drives the wave function of the system does not represent noise, but provides purely the arrival of new information. Thus the wave function is guided by the optimal signal detection about the conditions of the environments under noisy observations. This behaviour is similar to biological systems that detect environmental cues, process this information, and adapt to them optimally by minimising uncertainties about the conditions of their environments. It is postulated that information-processing capability is a fundamental law of nature, and hence that models describing open quantum systems can equally be applied to biological systems to model their dynamics. For illustration, simple stochastic models are considered to capture heliotropic and gravitropic motions of plants. The advantage of such dynamical models is that it allows for the quantification of information processed by the plants. By considering the consequence of information erasure, it is argued that biological systems can process environmental signals relatively close to the Landauer limit of computation, and that loss of information must lie at the heart of ageing in biological systems.