Abstract

Abstract Summary

Overview

This study dives into the long-standing pursuit of understanding how weak magnetic fields interact with biological matter, despite challenges such as high temperature and significant friction in cellular environments.

Key Challenges

• High temperatures that typically yield a zero equilibrium response from weak, static magnetic fields.
• Large friction in cellular environments that hinders the alteration of nonequilibrium processes like free charge diffusion.

Methodology and Findings

We analyze nonequilibrium steady states of cellular ions within a confining environment, finding that even under strong friction and intense thermal fluctuations, responses to weak, homogeneous, static magnetic fields persist. Particularly, the magnetic field induces rotational ion motion at the cyclotron frequency, facilitated by both white noise and memory-containing friction and noise from an equilibrium thermal bath.

Conclusion

This study suggests that despite prevalent challenges, specific conditions in cellular environments allow for an observable physical response to weak magnetic fields, indicating a critical area for future research in magnetobiology and its biological implications.