Disrupting the Quantum Compass: Radio-Frequency Control of Radical Pair spin Dynamics.

Authors

  • Laura Grundy

Abstract

Migratory birds navigate using Earth's geomagnetic field via quantum spin dynamics in the retinal protein cryptochrome. A photogenerated radical pair encodes field direction in its singlet recombination probability. Broadband noise has been shown to disrupt this signal more effectively than stronger single-frequency fields.

References

Hore, Peter J., and Henrik Mouritsen. "The radical-pair mechanism of magnetoreception." Annual review of biophysics 45.1 (2016): 299-344.

Franz, S., et al. "Structure of the bifunctional cryptochrome aCRY from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii." Nucleic Acids Research 46.15 (2018): 8010-8022. RCSB Protein Data Bank, PDB ID: 5ZM0, doi:10.2210/pdb5ZM0/pdb.

Schwarze, Susanne, et al. "Weak broadband electromagnetic fields are more disruptive to magnetic compass orientation in a night-migratory songbird (Erithacus rubecula) than strong narrow-band fields." Frontiers in behavioural neuroscience 10 (2016): 55.

Hiscock, Hamish G., et al. "Disruption of magnetic compass orientation in migratory birds by radiofrequency electromagnetic fields." Biophysical journal 113.7 (2017): 1475-1484.

Rach, Niklas, et al. "Dressing the chopped-random-basis optimization: A bandwidth-limited access to the trap-free landscape." Physical Review A 92.6 (2015): 062343.

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Published

14-11-2026

How to Cite

Grundy, L. (2026) “Disrupting the Quantum Compass: Radio-Frequency Control of Radical Pair spin Dynamics”., Society for Natural Sciences Student Journal, 4. Available at: https://www.journal.socnatsci.org/index.php/journal/article/view/54 (Accessed: 14 November 2026).