A Universe in Our Brain: Carnot’s Engine and Maxwell’s Demon

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Abstract

The physical description, from the small to the large, the physical to the biological, and the material to the mental are reconsidered from a quantum chemical perspective fostering an isomorphic bridge between the qualitative states of the physical brain and the conjugate mind. The material-immaterial gap is intertwined by a Fourier-Laplace transform relating the material brain with its evolved mental properties, embodying a whole universe inside itself. The conjugate relationship between the resolvent and the evolution operator, generalized to encompass dissipative system-dynamics, exhibits higher order singularities and an acausal stochastic Poissonian time propagation. It is demonstrated that fusing quantum and thermal correlations at normothermia, operates a Maxwell Demon and a perfect Carnot Engine, indicating a fundamental quantum-chemistry-principle of life. The theory suggests a hierarchical structure, based on a syntactic ‘complex Gödel-like quantum unit’, the thermo-qulet, for molecular storage and communication, and a neurophysical conception of a self-referential identity theory. The theoretical foundation displays a remarkable analogy with the ancient Almagest treatise, ascribed to the Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Note that some obvious misprints in the equation between Eqs. (27, 29) have been corrected in later work [8], see also Eq. (4.16) below.

  2. 2.
  3. 3.

    Equation (2.2) may contain a dimensional constant, such as \(1/4\pi\), depending on the situation, see next section. However, this will not alter the entropy discussion.

  4. 4.

    \({\Gamma }^{(2)}\) should contain a ‘tail’ contribution of unpaired spin-orbitals which is washed away in the thermalization. This is the technical reason why the trace of \({\Gamma }^{(2)}\) in (3.2.4) is \(N/2\) and not \(\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{N}{2}\right)\).

  5. 5.

    This is superconductivity from the quantum chemists point of view [23], \({\lambda }_{L}\to N/2\) and \({\lambda }_{S}\to 0\) as \(n\to \infty\). However, we will not take the thermodynamic limit just keeping \(n\ge \frac{N}{2}\) finite.

  6. 6.

    The analytically continued density matrix obeys complex symmetry. The ‘miracle’, as described above, is that the thermalized \(\varrho\) becomes essentially proportional to \({\varvec{Q}}\) and that \({\varvec{B}}\) occurs again!

  7. 7.

    Cf. the change of basis \(|{\varvec{h}}\rangle {\varvec{B}}\) that diagonalizes the matrix \({\varvec{\gamma}}\), which here appears accidental.

  8. 8.

    One might indicate a superscript l in the transformation \({\varvec{B}}\) to distinguish the transformation associated with each CDS component. However, since they will here have the same dimension, \(n\), we have omitted this throughout when there is no case for confusion.

  9. 9.

    Note that the negative sign, -i, in the off-diagonal elements, is chosen by convention.

  10. 10.

    Not to be confused by \(\beta = 1/kt\) in Eq. (3.1.3).

  11. 11.

    The notation might be slightly confusing as one should not mix up \(\upsilon = p/m\) and \(\nu = p/c\).

  12. 12.

    See footnote 1.

  13. 13.

    Communication in a restricted sense, i.e., syntax and possibly pragmatics but not semantics, see also [19, 29], where the authenticity of scientific research is discussed from the viewpoint of telicity in biology and the concept of Communication Simpliciter.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the organisers of QSCP XXIV, the Chair: Alexander Glushkov, Cochair: Olga Khetselius and the Associated Chair: Jean Maruani for generously allowing me to present this work in the present proceedings from the meeting. This work has over time been supported by the Swedish Natural Science Research Council, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, The European Commission and the Nobel Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Erkki J. Brändas

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Correspondence to Erkki J. Brändas .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, Odessa State Environmental University, Odessa, Ukraine

    Alexander V. Glushkov

  2. Department of Mathematics, Odessa State Environmental University, Odessa, Ukraine

    Olga Yu. Khetselius

  3. LCP-MR, CNRS and Sorbonne-Universités, Paris, France

    Jean Maruani

  4. Department of Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Erkki Brändas

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Brändas, E.J. (2021). A Universe in Our Brain: Carnot’s Engine and Maxwell’s Demon. In: Glushkov, A.V., Khetselius, O.Y., Maruani, J., Brändas, E. (eds) Advances in Methods and Applications of Quantum Systems in Chemistry, Physics, and Biology. Progress in Theoretical Chemistry and Physics, vol 33. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68314-6_15

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