2014/10/31 by K. Mouloudakis, I. K. Kominis
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Computer Science · Engineering · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Atomic physics #Bluetooth and Wireless Communication Technologies #Computer science #Electromagnetic Fields and Biological Effects #Energy Harvesting in Wireless Networks #Excitation #Laser #Magnetic field #Magnetic resonance imaging #Mathematics #Mechanism (biology) #Mixing (physics) #Nuclear magnetic resonance #Optics #Orientation (vector space) #Physics #Position (finance) #Pulse (music) #Quantum mechanics #Radio frequency #Telecommunications #physics.bio-ph #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2016.07.006
published in Biosystems 147, 35-39 (Elsevier BV) · 5 pages, 5 figures
arxiv created 2016/07/12 · openalex publication_date 2016/07/20 · arxiv updated 2016/07/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The radical-pair mechanism is understood to underlie the magnetic navigation capability of birds and possibly other species. Experiments with birds have provided indirect and in cases conflicting evidence on the actual existence of this mechanism. We here propose a new experiment that can unambiguously identify the presence of the radical-pair magnetoreceptor in birds and unravel some of its basic properties. The proposed experiment is based on modulated light excitation with a pulsed laser, combined with delayed radio-frequency magnetic field pulses. We predict a resonance effect in the birds' magnetic orientation versus the rf-pulse delay time. The resonance's position reflects the singlet-triplet mixing time of the magnetoreceptor.