Detection of circular polarization in light scattered from photosynthetic microbes

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dc.creatorSparks, William B.
dc.creatorHough, James
dc.creatorGermer, Thomas A.
dc.creatorChen, Feng
dc.creatorDasSarma, Shiladitya
dc.creatorDasSarma, Priya
dc.creatorRobb, Frank T.
dc.creatorManset, Nadine
dc.creatorKolokolova, Ludmilla
dc.creatorReid, Neill
dc.creatorMacchetto, F. Duccio
dc.creatorMartin, William
dc.date2009-04-29
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T13:09:58Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T13:09:58Z
dc.descriptionThe identification of a universal biosignature that could be sensed remotely is critical to the prospects for success in the search for life elsewhere in the universe. A candidate universal biosignature is homochirality, which is likely to be a generic property of all biochemical life. Due to the optical activity of chiral molecules, it has been hypothesized that this unique characteristic may provide a suitable remote sensing probe using circular polarization spectroscopy. Here, we report the detection of circular polarization in light scattered by photosynthetic microbes. We show that the circular polarization appears to arise from circular dichroism of the strong electronic transitions of photosynthetic absorption bands. We conclude that circular polarization spectroscopy could provide a powerful remote sensing technique for generic life searches.
dc.description15 pages, 4 figures; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, in press
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/0904.4646
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/0904.4646
dc.identifierdoi:10.1073/pnas.0810215106
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/228917
dc.subjectEarth and Planetary Astrophysics
dc.subjectSolar and Stellar Astrophysics
dc.titleDetection of circular polarization in light scattered from photosynthetic microbes
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