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Open Quantum Systems Decoherence

Quantum Information Flow in Microtubule Tryptophan Networks

arXiv
Authors: Lea Gassab, Onur Pusuluk, Travis J. A. Craddock

Year

2026

Paper ID

2945

Status

Preprint

Abstract Read

~2 min

Abstract Words

217

Citations

N/A

Abstract

Networks of aromatic amino acid residues within microtubules, particularly those formed by tryptophan, may serve as pathways for optical information flow. Ultraviolet excitation dynamics in these networks are typically modeled with effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonians. By extending this approach to a Lindblad master equation that incorporates explicit site geometries and dipole orientations, we track how correlations are generated, routed, and dissipated, while capturing both energy dissipation and information propagation among coupled chromophores. We compare localized injections, fully delocalized preparations, and eigenmode-based initial states. To quantify the emerging quantum-informational structure, we evaluate the L1 norm of coherence, the correlated coherence, and the logarithmic negativity within and between selected chromophore sub-networks. The results reveal a strong dependence of both the direction and persistence of information flow on the type of initial preparation. Superradiant components drive the rapid export of correlations to the environment, whereas subradiant components retain them and slow their leakage. Embedding single tubulin units into larger dimers and spirals reshapes pairwise correlation maps and enables site-selective routing. Scaling to larger ordered lattices strengthens both export and retention channels, whereas static energetic and structural disorder suppresses long-range transport and reduces overall correlation transfer. These findings provide a Lindbladian picture of information flow in cytoskeletal chromophore networks and identify structural and dynamical conditions that transiently preserve nonclassical correlations in microtubules.

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  • This paper contributes to the Open Quantum Systems & Decoherence research area in the Quantum Articles archive.
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  • Networks of aromatic amino acid residues within microtubules, particularly those formed by tryptophan, may serve as pathways for optical information flow.

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