Electromagnetic 0.1–100 kHz noise does not disrupt orientation in a night-migrating songbird implying a spin coherence lifetime of less than 10 µs
| Autor: | Henrik Mouritsen, Raisa Chetverikova, Dmitry Kobylkov, P. J. Hore, Jingjing Xu, Hamish G. Hiscock, Michael Winklhofer, Joe Wynn |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Předmět: |
Electromagnetic field
Coherence time Frequency band Biomedical Engineering Biophysics Life Sciences–Earth Science interface Bioengineering Biochemistry Songbirds Biomaterials 03 medical and health sciences Electromagnetic Fields 0302 clinical medicine Orientation Compass Broadband Animals Taxis Response 030304 developmental biology Physics 0303 health sciences Magnetoreception Circadian Rhythm Animal Migration Atomic physics Noise 030217 neurology & neurosurgery Biotechnology Radio wave Coherence (physics) |
| Zdroj: | Journal of The Royal Society Interface J R Soc Interface |
| ISSN: | 1742-5662 1742-5689 |
| DOI: | 10.1098/rsif.2019.0716 |
| Popis: | According to the currently prevailing theory, the magnetic compass sense in night-migrating birds relies on a light-dependent radical-pair-based mechanism. It has been shown that radio waves at megahertz frequencies disrupt magnetic orientation in migratory birds, providing evidence for a quantum-mechanical origin of the magnetic compass. Still, many crucial properties, e.g. the lifetime of the proposed magnetically sensitive radical pair, remain unknown. The current study aims to estimate the spin coherence time of the radical pair, based on the behavioural responses of migratory birds to broadband electromagnetic fields covering the frequency band 0.1–100 kHz. A finding that the birds were unable to use their magnetic compass under these conditions would imply surprisingly long-lived (greater than 10 µs) spin coherence. However, we observed no effect of 0.1–100 kHz radiofrequency (RF) fields on the orientation of night-migratory Eurasian blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla). This suggests that the lifetime of the spin coherence involved in magnetoreception is shorter than the period of the highest frequency RF fields used in this experiment (i.e. approx. 10 µs). This result, in combination with an earlier study showing that 20–450 kHz electromagnetic fields disrupt magnetic compass orientation, suggests that the spin coherence lifetime of the magnetically sensitive radical pair is in the range 2–10 µs. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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