Quantum-elevated Chiral Discrimination for Bio-molecules

Abstract:Chiral discrimination of enantiomeric biomolecules is vital in chemistry, biology, and medicine. Conventional methods, relying on circularly polarized light, face weak chiroptical signals and potential photodamage. Despite extensive efforts to improve sensitivity under low-photon exposure, classical chiral probes remain fundamentally bounded by the shot-noise limit due to quantum fluctuations. To beat these limitations, we demonstrate quantum-elevated chiral discrimination using continuous-variable polarization-entangled states as moderate-photon-flux, high-sensitivity, quantum-noise-squeezed chiral probes. We achieve a 5 dB improvement beyond the SNL in distinguishing L- and D-amino acids in liquid phase. This non-destructive, biocompatible protocol enables high-sensitivity chiral analysis, with broad implications for drug development, biochemical research, environmental monitoring, and asymmetric synthesis.

arXiv:2511.03412 [quant-ph]

(or arXiv:2511.03412v3 [quant-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2511.03412 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite

Sci. Adv.12,eaea8201(2026)

https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aea8201 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources

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