RT Journal Article
T1 Could dark matter or neutrinos discriminate between the enantiomers of a chiral molecule?
A1 Dobado González, Antonio
A1 Bargueño, P.
A1 Gonzalo Fonrodona, Isabel
AB We examine the effect of cold dark matter on the discrimination between the two enantiomers of a chiral molecule. We estimate the energy difference between the two enantiomers due to the interaction between fermionic WIMPs (weak interacting massive particles) and molecular electrons on the basis that electrons have opposite helicities in opposite enantiomers. It is found that this energy difference is completely negligible. Dark matter could then be discarded as an inductor of chiroselection between enantiomers and then of biological homochirality. However, the effect of cosmological neutrinos, revisited with the currently accepted neutrino density, would reach, in the most favorable case, an upper bound of the same order of magnitude as the energy difference obtained from the well-known electroweak electron-nucleus interaction in some molecules.
PB EPL Association, European Physical Society
SN 0295-5075
YR 2008
FD 2008-04
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/50654
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/50654
LA eng
NO This work is supported by the DGICYT (Spain) projectBPA2005-02327, by the Universidad Complutense/CAMprojects 910309 and CCG06-UCM/ESP-137, and bythe MEC (Spain) projects CTQ2005-09185-C02-02 andFIS2004-03267. The work of PB was supported by theFPI grant BES-2006-11976 from the Spanish MEC. Theauthors would like to thank A. L. Maroto and R. Pérezde Tudela for useful discussions.
NO DGICYT (Spain)
NO Universidad Complutense/CAM
NO MEC (Spain)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 9 abr 2025