Posner Molecule Symmetry Broken, Undermining Quantum Computing Role — E8 Intelligence Research

Abstract

FINDING: Posner molecule (Ca₉(PO₄)₆) dynamical ensemble is *not* symmetric, undermining its proposed role as a long-lived biological quantum information processor. | MATH: The molecule's point group is not the high-symmetry T_d (tetrahedral) often assumed; the paper (arXiv:2108.08822) demonstrates that the dynamical ensemble breaks this symmetry. Key structural constants: Ca–O bond lengths (~2.4 Å), P–O tetrahedral bond lengths (~1.54 Å), and the Ca₉ core forms a tricapped trigonal prism — a D₃h symmetry, not T_d. The relevant symmetry-breaking order parameter is the deviation from ideal tetrahedral angles (109.47°) toward the observed ~90° and ~120° angles of the prismatic core. | CONNECTION: D₃h is a crystallographic point group (order 12) — a subgroup of the full octahedral/tetrahedral groups. The ratio of the prism height to edge length in a tricapped trigonal prism is √(2/3) ≈ 0.816, close to 0.786 (the square root of 0.618). The 120° angles directly invoke hexagonal/trigonal latt Author: Andrew Stewart Caldin, Independent Researcher, UK. Part of the E8 Intelligence Research series. Platform: e8intelligence.com