Sensitive chemical compass assisted by quantum criticality

Abstract

A radical-pair-based chemical reaction might be used by birds for navigation via the geomagnetic direction. The inherent physical mechanism is that the quantum coherent transition from a singlet state to triplet states of the radical pair could respond to a weak magnetic field and be sensitive to the direction of such a field; this then results in different photopigments to be sensed by the avian eyes. Here, we propose a quantum bionic setup, inspired by the avian compass, as an ultrasensitive probe of a weak magnetic field based on the quantum phase transition of the environments of the two electrons in the radical pair. We prove that the yield of the chemical products via recombination from the singlet state is determined by the Loschmidt echo of the environments with interacting nuclear spins. Thus quantum criticality of environments could enhance the sensitivity of detection of weak magnetic fields.