Summary
Properties of the Fröhlich model of collective oscillations of polar molecules (such as proteins) residing inside, or in the plasma membrane, of biological cells, receiving energy from intracellular metabolic sources and giving it off to surroundings, are studied. The exchange mechanisms with the heat bath can be linear and non-linear. Particular attention is given to condensation of energy in the lowest-frequency (fundamental) mode. Occurrence of this phenomenon, which is of importance for generation of electromagnetic fields by the cells as well as for other functions, presupposes that the non-linear interaction coefficient exceeds certain limit; if it is too small, the incoming energy is distributed to all modes. This can happen e.g. in the context of cancerous conditions due to perturbation of high static electric fields around mitochondria which are necessary support for non-linear behaviour. On the contrary, if interaction with the heat bath is too high, the oscillator system leaks energy to surroundings and must be pumped heavily to attain condensation.
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Extract
Role of Non-Linear Interactions by the Energy Condensation in Fröhlich Systems
1. Introduction
The contribution of physics to the panoply of experimental tools of biology and medicine is generally appreciated: the DNA double helix would not have been discovered without x-ray structural analysis; electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging are household names in the biological and medical community these days. Less visible, but of comparable importance for the development, are theoretical concepts and thematic frameworks transferred from physics to the realm of biology. The work of the Anglo-German scientist Herbert Fröhlich is a prominent example of this process. Fröhlich had already made groundbreaking contributions ...See the full content of this document
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