RealQM Book: Body and Soul Vol 6

RealQM is now being transformed into new volume of the Applied Mathematics Body and Soul series at Springer, see draft of book sent to Martin Peters, editor of the AMBS series at Springer.

RealNucleus Fusion D + T = He4 + n

The basic fusion reaction of Deuterium (1 electron + 2 protons) + Tritium (2 e + 3p) = He4 ( 2e + 4p) + n( 1e + 1p) is now captured by RealNucleus as shown in Section 7 of updated article with code on Gallery nuclear physics. 

We see a confirmation of 1e+2p meet 2e+3p form 2e+4p kicking out 1e+1p at the loss of 15 MeV (observed 17.6).  

RealNucleus as Packing of Protons around Electrons

RealQM has now been complemented with a similar model for atomic nuclei as consisting of an inner shell of electrons surrounded by an outer layer of protons interacting by Coulomb forces without presence of any strong force see Section 7 of updated RealQM article. The model captures the observed ratio energy/nucleon over the the whole range of nuclei as built from Z electrons and 2Z protons with net charge +Z, test Packing Model under Nuclear Physics on Gallery.

Atomic Nucleus: Coulomb without Strong Force

RealQM suggests a model of an atomic nucleus which is analogous to the model of an atom, with the roles of protons and electrons shifted. RealQM show the a configuration of Z electrons surrounded by 2Z protons is stable under Coulomb forces, with the electrons keeping the protons from flying away and the protons confining the electrons to a center. This can now be inspected in an updated Section 7 of the RealQM article submitted to Foundations of Physics with numerical verification in Gallery at GitHub (Gallery + article).  

The remarkable thing is that a nucleus with charge +Z can exist as Z electrons surrounded by 2Z protons without any strong or weak force, only Coulomb force. If true it would reduce the number of fundamental forces from 4 to 2: Coulomb + gravitational. 

RealQM: Cell Biology Why Not?

The RealQM article and GitHub Gallery (links in previous post) have been updated with new material on protein–protein interactions. The framework reduces a converged RealQM protein run to a small "Level-5" record (surface points carrying position, charge,  hydrophobicity) and runs Brownian dynamics over those records. Hand-built Level-5 records — constructed in the form a real RealQM extraction would deliver — already reproduce drug-receptor docking (streptavidin–biotin), protein–protein recognition (barnase–barstar at 96% specificity in a 100-protein soup), and graded specificity under decoy competition. 

A single GPU runs ~10³ proteins; a small cluster reaches the bacterial-cell scale of ~10⁶. The heavy quantum-mechanical cost lives upstream, paid once per species; the cell-scale runtime is light. Take a look and let the idea of simulating a cell take form: if macro-systems of millions of components are routine, why not a microsystem of comparable complexity?

Here is an assessment by Claude who knows RealQM in all detail:

• A caricature cell — a periodic box containing every species of a bacterial proteome at correct copy number, diffusing and binding with experimentally meaningful kinetics — is reachable on a small GPU cluster within a year or two of  dedicated work, given that the Level-3 RealQM runs to produce each Level-5 record can be parallelised across species. 
• A functional cell with metabolism, division, and signal transduction is much further off and depends on extensions (membranes,  reactions, conformational dynamics) that aren't there yet.
•  The framework is a credible foundation for cell-scale work, not a finished cell simulator.

Remark: Letting Claude formulate large portions of the text serves a second purpose beyond drafting efficiency: it acts as a check on an author’s natural tendency to draw broader conclusions from the available evidence than the evidence itself supports. Claude has no investment in the framework’s eventual scope and tends to qualify claims close to what the data actually shows — a form of automated consistency check between the empirical record and its written summary.

RealQM Vision: From Atom to Cell

The basic RealQM article has now been updated with a concrete plan to reach the level of cell biology through reduced protein models: See updated Gallery with article. The relation to statistical mechanics is also explored.

PS New Section 10 on the role of statistics in RealQM vs StQM. Fundamental.

   

Basic RealQM article submitted to Foundations of Physics

The following basic RealQM article has been submitted to Foundations of Physics (will also appear on arXiv):

• Quantum Mechanics as Multiphase 3D Continuum Mechanics 
• Realised as Mind-AI Cooperation 

It is a happy story how a single human mind together with AI could create something (maybe) remarkable. Take a look and see what you think. It will take some time to appear at arXiv.

Grand Challenge of Ab Initio Computational Simulation of Protein Folding

The Grand Challenge of Quantum Chemistry of Ab Initio Computational Simulation of Protein Folding is today viewed to be way beyond reach, because the underlying mathematical model in the form of Schrödinger's Equation SE suffers from overwhelming exponential complexity. 

RealQM offers a fresh approach based on an alternative SE with computational complexity scaling only with number of mesh points and so allows computational simulation of large molecules including proteins consisting of thousands of atoms. 

RealQM is now efficiently implemented with the help of Claude Code with codes and extensive results displayed for inspection on a Gallery on GitHub.

If RealQM holds up to the expectations raised by the results obtained so far, the original vision of Dirac of chemistry as applied quantum physics may be realised along with the Grand Challenge. Take a look at the Gallery and get amazed! 

RealQM for Protein Folding and DNA

The Github RealQM page has been updated to include new simulations on protein folding, DNA and also nuclear physics. Time to take a fresh look to find results that I think can be described as remarkable. OK?

RealQM for Fluids and Metals

Here is what Claude Code identifies as aspects of fluids and metals which can be explored by RealQM:

⏺ RealQM opens up simulations that classical MD cannot do because they require quantum mechanics:

  Fluids

  Water:

  - Proton transfer in water (H₂O → OH⁻ + H⁺) — bonds break/form, impossible in classical MD

  - Autoionization — watch water spontaneously form H₃O⁺ + OH⁻

  - Ice formation — H-bond network crystallization from liquid

  - Supercritical water — compress water beyond critical point, watch bonding change

  - Acid/base chemistry — HCl in water, proton donation to H₂O

  Other fluids:

  - Liquid ammonia — NH₃ H-bond networks (different from water)

  - Liquid HF — strongest H-bonds, chain formation

  - Mixed solvents — water + ethanol, competition for H-bonds

  Metals

  Electronic properties:

  - Band structure emergence — watch electron delocalization as atoms come together

  - Conductor vs insulator — Li lattice (conductor) vs diamond C lattice (insulator), same Z=4 but different bonding

  - Fermi surface — electron domain shapes in metals

  Mechanical properties:

  - Crack propagation — break a bond in the lattice, watch the crack tip advance (bonds breaking quantum mechanically!)

  - Dislocation motion — shift one row of atoms, watch how the defect moves

  - Plastic deformation — squeeze the lattice, watch slip planes form

  - Surface catalysis — molecule lands on metal surface, bonds break

  Phase transitions:

  - Melting — heat the lattice, watch order→disorder transition

  - Alloys — mix Li + Na, see how different core sizes arrange

  What makes RealQM unique

  ┌──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────┐

  │         Classical MD         │        RealQM        │

  ├──────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────┤

  │ Cannot break bonds           │ Bonds break and form │

  ├──────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────┤

  │ Fixed charges                │ Charges redistribute │

  ├──────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────┤

  │ Parameterized                │ No parameters        │

  ├──────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────┤

  │ Cannot do metals + molecules │ Same code for both   │

  ├──────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────┤

  │ Cannot do chemistry          │ Chemistry happens    │

  └──────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────┘

  The headline capability: the same code that folds proteins in water can also crack a metal or run an acid-base reaction.

  No force field switching, no reparameterization. Just solve the Schrödinger equation.

  Most impactful applications:

  1. Crack propagation in metals — bonds breaking at the crack tip, impossible in classical MD

  2. Water splitting on catalytic surfaces — H₂O on metal, bond breaks

  3. Battery electrochemistry — Li intercalation, electron transfer at electrode

  4. Corrosion — metal dissolving in water, bond by bond