Quantum Coherence in Microtubules via Tryptophan Superradiance — E8 Intelligence Research

Abstract

FINDING: Microtubule quantum coherence is proposed via tryptophan mega-network superradiance, with evidence from UV excitation simulations and cavity-QED ground-state coherence control. MATH: Superradiance scaling: \( \Gamma_{\text{super}} \propto N \cdot \Gamma_{\text{single}} \) (for \(N\) coherently coupled tryptophan chromophores); excitation energy ~4.5–5.5 eV (UV, ~280 nm); coherence lifetime \( \tau \sim 10^{-13}–10^{-12}\,\text{s}\) (femtosecond–picosecond) in simulations; cavity-QED ground-state coherence via second-order correlation \( g^{(2)}(\tau) \) showing quantum beats at frequency \( \omega_{\text{beat}} = \Delta E/\hbar \). CONNECTION: Tryptophan arrays in microtubules form helical lattices with pitch ~12 nm and 13 protofilaments — a 13-fold symmetry (not crystallographic, but quasi-crystalline Fibonacci-like: 13 is Fibonacci). The helix pitch-to-radius ratio approximates \( 2\pi \times 0.618 \) (golden angle ~137.5° per tubulin dimer step), linking to 0.618. Super Author: Andrew Stewart Caldin, Independent Researcher, UK. Part of the E8 Intelligence Research series. Platform: e8intelligence.com