Quantum Capacity Analysis of the DNA-to-Protein Channel via Extreme Channel Decomposition
Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Quantum information theory has recently been employed to model biological processes, shedding light on how nature may exploit quantum effects for efficient information transfer. This work explores the potential of quantum channels derived from biological models to advance next-generation communication systems. Focusing on the transfer of genetic information between DNA and proteins, we propose a model that incorporates quantum coherence between synonymous codons, namely, codons encoding the same amino acid. This quantum feature leads to an increase in mutual information compared to classical models. To characterize the resulting communication process, we generalize Birkhoff’s theorem for doubly stochastic matrices, expressing the quantum channel as a convex combination of ten extreme maps, each represented by a sub-permutation matrix. By linking quantum coherence in DNA-to-protein information transfer to channel structure and capacity, this work establishes a theoretical foundation for biologically inspired quantum communication models.
Authors: Alessandro Barbaro, Maurizio Magarini
Institution: Politecnico di Milano
Language: English
Subfield: Artificial Intelligence
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7168254996