Combined Environmental and Magnetic Effects on Elementary Matter: A Quantum Field Theory Description of Fermion Epigenetics

Abstract

We compute in a theoretical quantum field theory framework the effects that a classic environment will have on an elementary one - fermion state, assumed for simplicity to be that of one electron, in the presence of a magnetic field. We consider its total energy and its spin angular momentum as relevant observables of the state. We show that the changes of these quantities produced by the combined environmental and magnetic effects can be expressed in a simple and compact form. We obtain expressions that only depend on the values of the external environment and magnetic fields, and on the special spin features of the free fermion state. We call these effects “ fermion epigenetics ” and try to motivate this definition discussing possible relevant analogies with the corresponding medical treatment of epigenetics in organic cells.