Rethinking the Process of Vision

The surface of the retina of the eye is composed of approximately 120 million smaller rod and 6-7 million larger cone receptors. The organization of this tightly packed admixture of receptors is wildly asymmetric with  greater than 99% of the cones located in the central region that is termed the “fovea” (occupying about one millimeter in diameter or 1 degree of retinal angle).

It has been long accepted that  visible light interacts at the plane of what are termed the ‘outer segments’ of these receptors. This is a section of the retina that is about 50 microns in thickness.

In the new view presented in this work, the first stage of the light absorption on the retina involves detecting light as an electromagnetic  wave - the concept  of classical physics This interaction occurs at the plane of retinal outer segments but in the spaces between adjacent receptors, or more precisely, between rhodspsin/retinal molecular complexes  contained within the body of both types of individual receptor. These complexes  form what are termed in physics electron quantum confinement (EQC) sites.

It is the dimensionality of the spatial distance between receptors (or theEQC sites  contained within) that defines the wavelength absorbed at that site.

These light absorbing entities should properly be termed “optical antenna lengths’. Antennas resonate with the wave nature of electromagnetic energy.

(As will be discussed below, I would note that antennas can radiate as well as detect EM energy)

In a  subsequent stage of the energy absorption mechanism, energy is transferred laterally along the lipid membrane of the thylakoid disks within receptors to the EQC sites located within the body of receptors.

The time scale from the  initial light wave interaction to  materialization of the quantized electron is of the order of 10^-15 sec (or femtoseconds).

In the process of transferring energy to the EQC sites, and definition of the electron particle, absorbed energy is thermalized (or ‘slowed down’) to biochemical (or ‘human nervous system compatible’) proportions i.e., to a time scale of 10^-3 sec.  This probably occurs via phononic (or solitonic) transfer along the lipid membrane of the thylakoid disk structures.  All subsequent processes in the underlying retina occur via these slower mechanisms.

Note that all of this is occurring in what is termed the ‘near field’ of the light wave or, at dimensions of less than one micron.

The admixture of the two sizes of receptors on the retina results in only three discrete dimensions and this underlies the trichromacy of vision (see my “Rosetta Stone” diagram).

The most fundamental finding of this work defines that a transition from the electromagnetic light wave of classical physics to a quantized electron particle takes place at each of these millions of light detection sites that form this plane of the retinal surface.

The abstract picture that ‘photons’ (i.e., “quantum particles)” are detected by the retina must be forever dismissed. Even Einstein had reservations about the concept of a photon particle. In more modern times, see the 1995 paper “Anti-photon” by the Nobelist Willis Lamb. A quote from the Abstract of the Lamb paper:

“It should be apparent from the title of this article that the author does not like the use of the word “photon”, which dates from 1926. In his view, there is no such thing as a photon. Only a comedy of errors and historical accidents led to its popularity among physicists and optical scientists……….”

I believe that it might more properly be said that each light detection interaction on the retinal surface constitutes a “quantized event”. How very much this assumption changes our entire thought process !

It becomes clear in this view that the eye evolved to detect light as the wave of classical physics and not to interact with abstract photon particles. Further, I have written that from this view it can be seen that the eye actually represents (exactly!) a materialization of the physical laws of the refraction of light.. One need not invoke any idea of purposeful “design”.

In physics terms the retina can be said to represent the historically sought dividing line (or, in the literature of physics the “Heisenberg Cut”) between the realms of classical and quantum physics. This becomes very clear.

Future progress in vision will follow from increased enlightenment and understanding of quantum effects. This will, in turn, follow from our progress in measurements in the very fast (femtosecond or 10^-15 sec) time domain and in the spatial domain of the near field of the light wave (less than 10^-6 m).

Both of these factors are invoked in this explanation of retinal light interaction.

I have never been happy with the terms “mysterious”, “weird”, etc. that are commonly invoked in discussion of quantum thought. I believe simply that it has been our inability to measure in these ‘frontier’ time and space domains that has led to use of these terms. But that is now changing!

A question: what actually constitutes the, external to the eye, ”quantum realm” that the eye interfaces with?

Future progress in vision will follow from increased enlightenment and understanding of quantum effects. This will, in turn, follow from our progress in measurements in the very fast (femtosecond or 10^-15 sec) time domain and in the spatial domain of the near field of the light wave (less than 10^-6 m).

I believe that this explanation has already led to new lines of thought regarding the process of vision. Examples – the spatial entities that are seen to form light detection centers can actually be described as the ‘antennas for visible light the possibility of which I first saw in a U.S. patent by Alvin Marks in 1991, And….antennas can radiate as well as receive electromagnetic energy. I have proposed that the retina/eye might not be the passive light detection structure that has been historically perceived but rather might, in the form of a phase conjugate mirror re-radiate the visual scene back into the external environment… ?

I am reminded here of a quote from T. S. Eliot that I used back in the beginning:

“…we shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.”

Perhaps..?

GCH

Ojai,CA

Revised 3.07.10

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This is the fundamental mechanism that I propose is involved in light interaction with retinal receptors, i.e., that light as a wave interacts outside of (or between) individual receptors. In this mechanism energy is transferred from the electromagnetic wave to the absorbing electron mass orthogonal to the direction of incident light via what is termed an “evanescent wave” …and this exactly explains the heretofore considered peculiar dichroic orientation of the rhodopsin complex in retinal receptors

Although I have considered for some time that evanescent wave phenomena provided the basis for energy coupling between the incident llight wave and the correct dichroic orientation of the rhodopsin chromophore contained within each receptor, I have not discussed this subject in this paper which has attempted to stress the beauty and simplicity of the geometric concept and was addressed primarily to the vision community.

See this link for a brief discussion of evanescent wave phenomenon as the coupling mechanism between incident light and the rhodopsin complex

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