Author: Michal Cifra 1,2 and Jiˇr ́ı Pokorn ́y 2
Affiliation: 1 Department of Electromagnetic Field, Czech Technical University Technick ́a 2, Prague 166 27, Czech Republic 2 Institute of Photonics and Electronics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Chabersk ́a 57, 182 51, Prague 8, Czech Republic
Conference/Journal: Progress In Electromagnetics Research Symposium Abstracts
Date published: 2009 Aug 18-21
Other:
Word Count: 223
Electromagnetic field is generated in biological systems in broad frequency region.
Field excited above certain cut-off frequency will redistribute to eigenmodes according to geometrical and dielectric properties of the structure. Feasibility of eigenmodes existence in living
cells is approximated by simple model and critically treated. Eigenmodes of the spherical cavity
with conducting shell have been treated analytically. COMSOL Multiphysics is used to model
eigenmodes in spherical and elliptical cavity. Cut-off frequencies of the first five eigenmodes are
provided. Possible sources for field excitation in infrared region are discussed. Quality of the
resonator will strongly depend on the field absorption in water-like cytosol. This is the main
obstacle for the hypothesis of cell as the infrared electromagnetic resonator. Only hypothetic
possibility left is that cellular water would have drastically different dielectric properties compared to bulk water, namely electromagnetic field absorption in infrared region. This could be
fulfilled in a microvolumes (coherent domains) but is questioned on the size of the whole cell.
It is shown that the certain eigenmodes, if excited, may play an important role in the organization of processes in the cell, particularly in centrosome or nucleus positioning. Work of other
authors on electromagnetic eigenmodes of cellular structures is briefly reviewed. Biological elec-
tromagnetic field may contribute to the spatial and temporal organization of the structures and
processes in the living cell.