%0 Journal Article
%T Entanglement and Sources of Magnetic Anisotropy in Radical Pair-Based Avian Magnetoreceptors
%A Hannah J. Hogben
%A Till Biskup
%A P. J. Hore
%J Physics
%D 2012
%I arXiv
%R 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.220501
%X One of the principal models of magnetic sensing in migratory birds rests on the quantum spin-dynamics of transient radical pairs created photochemically in ocular cryptochrome proteins. We consider here the role of electron spin entanglement and coherence in determining the sensitivity of a radical pair-based geomagnetic compass and the origins of the directional response. It emerges that the anisotropy of radical pairs formed from spin-polarized molecular triplets could form the basis of a more sensitive compass sensor than one founded on the conventional hyper?ne-anisotropy model. This property offers new and more flexible opportunities for the design of biologically inspired magnetic compass sensors.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.5946v1