arXiv Preprint Archive
January 28, 2003
Bhag C. Chauhan
Classical physics treats the observer as separate from physical reality, but quantum theory shows that the observer is unavoidably involved in measurement. This work argues that modern science is incomplete because it excludes the role of consciousness. Drawing on views from scientists and philosophers, it contends that human beings are part of nature and the mind is essential to observation. The author suggests that scientific theories must incorporate the workings of the human mind, and that free will is an illusion, with everything in the universe falling under determinism and scientific explanation.
arXiv Preprint Archive
December 21, 2002
Miroljub Dugic, Milan M. Cirkovic, Dejan Rakovic
Modern quantum mechanics, especially decoherence theory, can serve as a physical metatheory of consciousness. By analyzing the necessary conditions for decoherence and assuming consciousness has a well-defined physical origin, a broader physical picture emerges that naturally incorporates consciousness. This suggests a form of psycho-physical parallelism on cosmological scales.
arXiv Preprint Archive
October 13, 2002
Danko Dimchev Georgiev
Consciousness must have evolved through natural selection, making epiphenomenalism (the view that consciousness is a causally inert byproduct) untenable. The paper proposes a specific molecular mechanism by which quantum effects could influence neurotransmitter release. In this model, the brain's microtubule network generates quantum-coherent solitons that tune beta-neurexin molecules. These molecules' thermal vibrations can then promote or suppress conformational changes through vibrational multidimensional tunneling, which drives the detachment of the calcium sensor synaptotagmin-1 from the SNARE complex. This detachment triggers membrane fusion and neurotransmitter release into the synaptic cleft, allowing quantum information transfer to causally affect neural signaling.
arXiv Preprint Archive
May 6, 2002
Bikas K. Chakrabarti
Recent advances reveal that computations in the brain's neural network are highly distributed. The text discusses whether artificial networks could perform mathematics and natural sciences, and addresses the problem of consciousness in such machines. It also examines ancient Indian ideas about mind-body relations and J. C. Bose's experimental observations on distributed computations in plants.
arXiv Preprint Archive
March 7, 2002
Joe Henson
The essay argues that calls for a Theory of Everything to include a theory of consciousness, or for new physics to describe consciousness, stem from misunderstandings about how language is used when discussing consciousness. The author contends that the motivations behind searching for such a unified theory arise from these linguistic confusions, implying that no new physics or expanded theory is needed to account for consciousness.
arXiv Preprint Archive
January 25, 2002
Stephen Blaha
Human consciousness can be modeled as a classical probabilistic computer rather than a quantum one, because no known feature of consciousness depends on Planck's constant, the hallmark of quantum phenomena. The facets of consciousness are describable using an object-oriented design with dynamically defined classes and objects. Consciousness may also have redundant, protective mechanisms, similar to principles in economic theory.
arXiv Preprint Archive
November 8, 2001
Manoj K. Samal
The authors propose a framework that attempts to unify mind and matter by extending quantum theory, treating information as more fundamental than either physical substance or thought. They ask whether consciousness is an accident or a natural consequence of the laws of nature, and whether those laws are identical to the laws of physics. The work is a theoretical or philosophical argument, not an empirical study, and does not report experimental results or data.
arXiv Preprint Archive
March 12, 2001
Alex Kaivarainen
A proposed mechanism for Psi phenomena (e.g., remote vision, mind-matter interaction) is built on a unified theory of Bivacuum—a dual vacuum of fermions and antifermions. The theory posits that material objects have a Virtual Replica in Bivacuum, composed of nonlocal Virtual Guides constructed from virtual Cooper pairs. These guides connect coherent particles between a Sender and Receiver, enabling macroscopic entanglement and mediating Psi phenomena without violating fundamental laws. The framework also integrates theories of consciousness, matter duality, and liquid/solid structure. The author suggests the theory explains unconventional experimental data consistently.
arXiv Preprint Archive
March 9, 2001
Henry P. Stapp
Orthodox Copenhagen quantum theory abandons the quest to understand objective reality, focusing only on rules connecting observations. John von Neumann reformulated quantum theory as an evolving objective universe interacting with human consciousness, where a sudden change aligns the objective physical state with subjective psychical reality. This work addresses two obstacles to this view: reconciling it with relativistic quantum field theory (resolving a nonlocality issue) and explaining how a person's mind can affect brain activity within quantum theory. The proposed solution links effort, attention, and the quantum Zeno effect, accounting for unexplained psychological data.
arXiv Preprint Archive
January 15, 2001
Erhard Bieberich
Self-referential paradoxes like the Liar paradox are a unique ability of the human mind that logic alone cannot explain. This paper analyzes the Liar paradox using both classical (Boolean) and quantum logic, finding that both fail to resolve it because perceptions are atomistic, particle-like events. A physical mechanism is proposed that can account for the experience of self-referential paradox, which neither classical nor quantum mechanical operations can achieve, offering a better model for this aspect of mind structure.
arXiv Preprint Archive
October 11, 2000
Miroljub Dugic, Dejan Rakovic, Milan M. Cirkovic
Modern quantum mechanics, especially decoherence theory, can provide a physical metatheory of consciousness. By analyzing the necessary conditions for decoherence and assuming consciousness has a well-defined physical origin, a broader physical framework emerges that naturally incorporates consciousness. This framework resembles a form of psycho-physical parallelism with cosmological implications.
arXiv Preprint Archive
July 5, 2000
P. A. Zizzi
During inflation, the early universe can be described as a superposed state of quantum registers. The self-reduction of this superposed quantum state is consistent with Penrose's Objective Reduction (OR) model. The quantum gravity threshold is reached at the end of inflation, corresponding to a superposed state of 10^9 quantum registers. This number matches the number of superposed tubulin qubits in the human brain that undergo Penrose-Hameroff's Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch OR), leading to a conscious event. An analogy thus arises between the early quantum computing universe and the human mind.
arXiv Preprint Archive
March 21, 2000
Alex Kaivarainen
The paper proposes a hierarchical model of the Cycle of Mind that integrates quantum and classical stages. In the quantum stages, phonons and infrared photons stimulate dynamic correlations between water clusters inside microtubules, leading to mesoscopic Bose condensation. This transitions into a macroscopic nonuniform semi-virtual Bose condensation via virtual replica multiplication and virtual guide formation between coherent water molecules. The collapse of the macroscopic wave function occurs through optical bistability and disassembly of entangled water clusters. This process shifts interactions between water clusters from clusterphilic to hydrophobic, causing cavities in tubulins to close. The classical stages are also analyzed.
arXiv Preprint Archive
February 24, 2000
M K Samal
Consciousness is defined as the process of attributing meaning to the world, drawing on Føllesdal's view that meaning arises from all evidence available to communicating individuals. Science can reduce all evidence to a basic entity (BE) and can explain consciousness if a definition of communication is developed that uses the quantum superposition principle to capture the fuzziness of experience. Consciousness may not be computable, but it is communicable.
arXiv Preprint Archive
November 9, 1999
L. Gabora
Consciousness may be a fundamental property of information, not something that emerges from non-conscious components. An entity becomes more conscious as it amplifies information—first by trapping and integrating information through closure (like the origin of life or a shared worldview), and second by maintaining dynamics at the edge of chaos through simultaneous divergence and convergence. These processes can induce phase transitions in how much information, and thus consciousness, is locally amplified. The inward bias created by closure shields us from external consciousness, suggesting that the apparent scarcity of consciousness may be an illusion.
arXiv Preprint Archive
November 26, 1997
Henry P. Stapp
The author responds to arguments that nonlinear classical mechanics, rather than quantum mechanics, provides the physical basis for consciousness. The reply defends the relevance of quantum mechanics to theories of mind by countering claims that classical nonlinear dynamics better explains conscious phenomena.
arXiv Preprint Archive
February 9, 1996
Euan Squires
Orthodox quantum theory necessarily invokes consciousness, which operates outside the laws of physics yet has a real effect on the experienced world. Several methods for introducing the Born probability rule are discussed, with preference given to one where consciousness selects a unique realized world. Orthodox quantum theory also requires that consciousness acts non-locally.
arXiv Preprint Archive
November 21, 1995
Henry P. Stapp
Standard quantum mechanics includes a deterministic, local process governed by equations of quantum field theory, and a second, nonlocal process that selects one actual reality from a range of possibilities. This second process is usually attributed to irreducible chance, which the author argues makes the theory non-naturalistic because it introduces an element outside the physical universe. The paper presents a quantum mechanical model of brain dynamics where this selection process is not random but is instead a causal, nonlocal physical process that can be identified with consciousness.
arXiv Preprint Archive
October 17, 1995
Patricio Perez
Consciousness and quantum physics share several properties, such as non-locality and the role of the observer. Associative memory neural networks serve as a relevant model for understanding consciousness. Two existing quantum models of consciousness are discussed, though the abstract does not specify which ones or provide evidence for or against them.
arXiv Preprint Archive
May 30, 1995
Henry P. Stapp
The paper presents a quantum model of the mind/brain, arguing that quantum mechanics can explain consciousness, qualia, and free will. It proposes that the self and personhood arise from quantum processes in the brain, and claims the model meets Baars's criteria for consciousness. The work is a theoretical and philosophical argument, not an empirical study.
arXiv Preprint Archive
May 24, 1995
D. Nanopoulos
The brain's microtubules (MTs) may serve as microsites of consciousness by supporting quantum superpositions that collapse into physiological actions. MTs possess a binary error-correcting code with 64 words, related to a kind of mental code, and their periodic paracrystalline structure can sustain coherent quantum states long enough for quantum computing, as conjectured by Hameroff and Penrose. A new string-derived mechanism for quantum collapse, proposed by Ellis, Mavromatos, and the author, predicts that 10,000 neurons take about 1 second to dynamically collapse and process information. This matches observations of conscious events and explains properties like backward masking, referral backwards in time, non-locality in the cerebral cortex, and the unitary sense of self.