Collective behavior of oscillating electric dipoles

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of a population of identical biomolecules mimicked as electric dipoles with random orientations and positions in space and oscillating with their intrinsic frequencies. The biomolecules, beyond being coupled among themselves via the dipolar interaction, are also driven by a common external energy supply. A collective mode emerges by decreasing the average distance among the molecules as testified by the emergence of a clear peak in the power spectrum of the total dipole moment. This is due to a coherent vibration of the most part of the molecules at a frequency definitely larger than their own frequencies corresponding to a partial cluster synchronization of the biomolecules. These results can be verified experimentally via spectroscopic investigations of the strength of the intermolecular electrodynamic interactions, thus being able to test the possible biological relevance of the observed macroscopic mode.