ABSTRACT
Introducing quantum mechanics immediately after considering the issue of cell division and cell-cell recognition, with their associated complex structures and structural changes, is rather shocking. “Continuum” normally refers to the continuous allowed values of energy of a quantum particle once its energy becomes positive. Electrons bound to atoms have negative total energies, indicating they are in bound states. Stationary states of relevance in biophysics usually occur in cases of electrons or protons bound to atoms or molecules. The chapter examines some interesting and apparently complicated cases in photosynthesis and heme proteins. Symmetry is an important concept in both quantum mechanics and in biosystems. Collisions of atoms constantly occur in gases, liquids, and solids. Particle collisions are the bread and butter of particle physics. The discovery of the “Rutherford atom” was made by collision experiments, Rutherford scattering, and first showed that an atom had a small, heavy nucleus surrounded by light electrons.
