C H A P T E R 3

Basic Physics and Biophysics:

Electromagnetism and Resonance

All objects in the universe, from the very smallest to the very largest, are continuously
vibrating. Since matter is composed of charged particles such as electrons and protons, all
vibrating matter is emitting electromagnetic fields. To be more specific, a stationary charge is
surrounded by an electric field and a moving charge produces magnetic fields (Ampère’s circuit
law, Chapter 2).
Vibrating matter resembles a pendulum or a child on a swing – its position goes from
stationary to rapid motion and back to stationary again. Its field goes from purely electric to
purely magnetic and back again, in repeating cycles. James Clerk Maxwell (Maxwell, 1865)
synthesized Ampère’s circuit law and Faraday’s law of induction (see Chapter 2) to create a
classical electromagnetic theory. Electromagnetic waves move through space at the speed of
light, with the electric fields perpendicular to the magnetic fields. The wavelength is the dis-
tance between peaks of the field.
Electromagnetic fields play a huge role in our daily lives, because they are involved in technol-
ogies such as cellular phones, electronic car keys, garage door openers, radio, television, police and
military communications, radar, and so on. The key to the operation of all of these technologies,
and to the use of energy fields in clinical medicine, is resonance – the phenomenon that enables
electromagnetic fields produced in one place to affect things at a distance.

The Power of Resonance

The astonishing effectiveness of resonance can be appreciated from the long distance communica-
tions involved in the U.S. space program. Launched in 1972, Pioneer 10 explored the asteroid belt,
Jupiter, and the outer planets in our solar system and then continued its journey beyond Pluto and
Neptune. In 1973, Pioneer 10 became the first manmade object to leave the solar system, where
it began to collect information on the interstellar wind and cosmic rays coming from deep space.
On the thirtieth anniversary of its launch, NASA sent a message to the spacecraft, which was then
7.4 billion miles away from Earth. The message was sent from a radio telescope in the desert east
of Los Angeles, and a radio telescope in Spain received a response 22 h and 6 min later. Pioneer
10 used two radio transmitters, coupled to two amplifiers producing 8 W of power, comparable
to a very small light bulb. Pioneer’s last, very weak signal was received on 23 January 2003. Its
radioisotope power source finally decayed, and it no longer had enough power to send additional
transmissions to Earth. The last transmission took place when Pioneer 10 was 7.6 billion miles
away (NASA, 2009).
This is the extraordinary power of resonance. In this chapter we begin to explore the nature
of radio and other resonant electromagnetic communications and their implications for living
systems and energy medicine.

Energy Medicine 23
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights Reserved.
24 ENERGY MEDICINE

Importance of Frequency
Very weak energy fields at the appropriate frequencies can be profoundly therapeutic. Other fre-
quencies can produce pathophysiological responses. While it may go against intuition, it appears
that, within limits, it is not the strength of the signal that determines whether it will be beneficial
or harmful, but instead it is the frequency. Resonance is the reason for this frequency specificity.
Biological effects, like molecular resonances, are very frequency specific. This is vital for a wide range
of energy therapies using frequencies applied to the human body, whether these signals come from
medical devices, the human voice, or the human hand, herbs or aromas, music, or other modalities.
For a long time scientists were very suspicious about the idea that very tiny energy fields could
have any biological effects. Recent research has resolved this issue by identifying the likely mecha-
nisms involved. This information will be detailed in Chapter 16, where we explore health effects
of the electromagnetic environment.
The biophysical question is how very tiny electromagnetic fields can have such profound effects.
A recent study (Pall, 2013) points out that the answer to this question has been hiding in plain sight
in the scientific literature for a long time. Modern science is so highly focused and specialized that
few have taken the time to read and evaluate the relevant literature. Martin Pall has done this for us.
An example of a therapeutic effect was discussed in the last chapter in relation to bone repair
facilitated by exposure to tiny pulsing fields. The fact of this therapeutic success in increasing
osteoblast differentiation and maturation is difficult to challenge, because it has been the subject
of so many studies. Pall lists these studies, and they are reproduced here in the box because the
critical or skeptical reader will want to look at these articles.

Studies Demonstrating the Effectiveness of Low Level Pulsing Electromagnetic

Fields in Stimulating Bone Repair (From Pall, 2013)
Ryabi JT 1998 Clinical effects of electromagnetic fields on fracture healing. Clin Orthop Relat
Res. 355(Suppl. l):S205–15.
Oishi M Onesti ST 2000 Electrical bone graft stimulation for spinal fusion: a review.
Neurosurgery. 47:1041–55.
Aaron RK Ciombor DM Simon BJ 2004 Treatment of nonunions with electric and electro-
magnetic fields. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 10:579–93.
Goldstein C Sprague S Petrisor BA 2010 Electrical stimulation for fracture healing: current
evidence. J Orthop Trauma. 24(Suppl. 1):S62–5.
Demitriou R Babis GC 2007 Biomaterial osseointegration enhancement with biophysical
stimulation. J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. 7:253–65.
Griffin XL Warner F Costa M 2008 The role of electromagnetic stimulation in the management
of established non-union of long bone fractures: what is the evidence? Injury. 39:419–29.
Huang LQ He HC He CQ et al. 2008 Clinical update of pulsed electromagnetic fields on
osteroporosis. Chin Med J. 121:2095–9.
Groah SL Lichy AM Libin AV et al. 2010 Intensive electrical stimulation attenuates femoral
bone loss in acute spinal cord injury. PM R. 2:1080–7.
Schidt-Rohlfing B Silny J Gavenis K et al. 2011 Electromagnetic fields, electric current and
bone healing – what is the evidence? Z Orthop Unfall. 149:265–70.
Griffin XL Costa ML Parsons N et al. 2011 Electromagnetic field stimulation for treating delayed
union or non-union of long bone fractures in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. CDO08471.
Chalidis B Sachinis N Assiotis A et al. 2011 Stimulation of bone formation and fracture heal-
ing with pulsed electromagnetic fields: biologic responses and clinical implications. Int J
Immunopathol Pharmacol. 24(1 Suppl. 2):17020.
Zhong C Zhao TF Xu ZJ et al. 2012 Effects of electromagnetic fields on bone regeneration
in experimental and clinical studies: a review of the literature. Chin Med J. 125:367–72.

Pall (2013)
3—Basic Physics and Biophysics: Electromagnetism and Resonance 25

Resonance and frequency specificity are key topics for exploring a wide range of phenomena:
■ Various energy medicine technologies that apply frequency to the body.
■ Consciousness-based therapies.
■ Subtle energetic techniques, such as QiGong, Therapeutic Touch, Reiki, Healing Touch,

Polarity Therapy, BodyTalk, and many others, that can have profound healing effects with
or without direct physical contact.
■ The significance of intention.
■ Prayer and distant healing.
■ Electromagnetic sensitivity, a growing health problem in which people appear to have allergic

reactions to low levels of electromagnetic radiation, as from cell towers or cell phones.
We shall therefore examine the physics of resonance from several perspectives to develop
explanations for these important phenomena.
Resonance is the process by which a field of a particular frequency or wavelength can transfer
vibrational energy from one object to another. Clinical applications of electromagnetic resonance
have the advantage that they can act at a distance using tiny fields that excite or energize specific
natural processes taking place deep within the body. Electromagnetic resonance can be used to
influence processes taking place in areas that are difficult to reach with drugs, such as the interior
of the brain, which is protected by the blood–brain barrier, or the interior of pockets of inflam-
mation that are separated from the general circulation by an inflammatory barricade, as will be
discussed in Chapter 17. Resonance is based on simple and understandable biophysics that clearly
explains why specific frequencies and not others are therapeutically effective and why there are
few if any side effects.
In physics, resonance is defined as the tendency of any object to oscillate or vibrate at maxi-
mum amplitude at certain frequencies, known as the system’s resonant or natural frequencies. At
these frequencies, even a tiny rhythmic driving force can build up in the system to produce strong
vibrations because the system accumulates or stores each applied pulse of energy.
A familiar example of resonance is pushing a child on a swing (Figure 3.1). When applied at
the appropriate intervals, the pushes cause the child to swing higher and higher. Physicists refer
to this arrangement as a pendulum. Anyone who has pushed a child on a swing knows how im-
portant it is to apply the push at the correct time so that the swinging will go higher and higher.

V
Gravitational
potential Kinetic energy
energy of motion
(A) (B)
Figure 3.1 A child on a swing (A) provides a good example of an oscillating system in which energy shifts
between two forms. Physicists refer to this arrangement as a pendulum (B). At the top of the swing, all of
the energy is in the form of gravitational potential energy, i.e., the energy available to the object as a result of
its position in relation to the gravity field. At the bottom of the swing, all of the energy is in the form of kinetic
energy, or the energy of motion. The energy in the system oscillates back and forth between these two dif-
ferent forms.
26 ENERGY MEDICINE

A push at the wrong time will take energy away from the pendulum and slow the swinging. There
are equations available to calculate the period or frequency of a pendulum as a function of the
length of the wire and the acceleration due to gravity. The weight of the swinging object is not a
factor in the equations.
The example shown in Figure 3.1 is instructive because it illustrates resonant interactions be-
tween two objects, the pusher and the child on the swing. It also illustrates energy being converted
from one form to another. Physicists refer to the energy of motion as kinetic energy. At the base
of the child’s swing, all of the energy is kinetic, whereas at the top of the swing there is no kinetic
energy – motion ceases for an instant. The physicist describes that moment as an instant when
all of the energy is in the form of gravitational potential energy – the energy that will restart the
swinging.
Electromagnetism employs similar principles to enable transmission of energy and informa-
tion over long distances.

Electricity and Magnetism Combined:

The Electromagnetic Field
Electromagnetic interactions taking place within the human body, between the body and its en-
vironment, and between a therapist and his or her patient are extremely important but have not
received adequate attention. Molecules can behave as resonant antennas, meaning that they can
radiate and absorb electromagnetic fields. This concept is inescapable. It is based on fundamental
laws of physics but is not widely discussed by biomedical researchers. Many alternative therapies
involving energy can seem peculiar from superficial observation, but they are easily explained by
electromagnetic interactions between molecules and, especially, arrays of molecules within living
systems. All of the conceptual pieces are in place, and they are based on substantial physics that
will be described next. This section also provides the basis for an understanding of electromag-
netic communication and control systems in the living body to be described Chapter 9.
James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) was a Scottish theoretical physicist and mathematician
(Figure 3.2A). He developed the classical electromagnetic theory that synthesizes Ampère’s cir-
cuit law and Faraday’s law of induction and optics into a consistent theory. His set of equations –
Maxwell’s equations – demonstrated that electricity, magnetism, and light are all manifestations of
the same phenomenon: the electromagnetic field. Maxwell demonstrated that electric and mag-
netic fields travel through space in the form of waves. Figure 3.2B shows the way the electrical
field and magnetic field are thought to move through space as electromagnetic waves. Note that
the electric field is perpendicular to the magnetic field.
In 1864 Maxwell wrote A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field, proposing that light
involves undulations in the same medium in which electric and magnetic phenomena take place.
His unified model of electromagnetism is regarded as one of the greatest advances in the history
of physics. It helped birth the era of modern physics and electronics by providing the foundation
for the fields of special relativity and quantum mechanics and the basis for technologies such as
radio, television, radar, and cellular telephones.
As Figure 3.2B shows, an oscillating charge alternately produces an electric field and a mag-
netic field. When the charge is stationary, the field is purely electrical. As the charge accelerates,
the electric component declines and the magnetic component increases. When the charge is mov-
ing at the maximum velocity, it produces a purely magnetic field and the electric field falls to zero.
The way charges can be made to oscillate involves a simple circuit known as an LC or inductance/
capacitance circuit (Figure 3.3).
An LC circuit, also called a resonant circuit, tank circuit, or tuned circuit, consists of an
inductor, represented by the letter L, and a capacitor, represented by the letter C. When con-
nected together, the coil and the capacitor can act as an electrical resonator, an electrical ­analog
3—Basic Physics and Biophysics: Electromagnetism and Resonance 27

Electric field (E)

Magnetic field (B)

Wavelength (λ)

(B)
Figure 3.2 (A) James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879), Scottish theoretical physicist and mathematician who
developed the classical electromagnetic theory by synthesizing Ampère’s law, Faraday’s law of induction
and optics into a consistent formulation. (B) According to Maxwell, the electrical field and magnetic field
move through space as electromagnetic waves. Note that the electric field is perpendicular to the mag-
netic field.

of a tuning fork or pendulum, to produce a purely magnetic field; the electrical field has fallen to
zero. The way the charges are caused to oscillate involves the LC circuit (Figure 3.3) storing and
releasing energy at the circuit’s resonant frequency. When L and C are connected, an electric
field will create a magnetic field in the inductor and an electric field in the capacitor. Energy
alternates between the inductor and the capacitor at the circuit’s resonant frequency. The reso-
nant frequency, in turn, is determined by the value of inductance, measured in henrys, and the
value of capacitance, measured in farads (see text box). Again, these terms, the henry and the
farad, are named for the pioneers of electromagnetism, Joseph Henry and Michael Faraday, as
discussed in the previous chapter. Living tissues have both of these properties, inductance and
capacitance.
28 ENERGY MEDICINE

L C

L C

Coil stores energy Capacitor stores energy

as a magnetic field as an electrical field

Energy in coil Energy in capacitor

Energy

0
Figure 3.3 Explanation of how an oscillator consisting of a coil (L) and a capacitor (C) produces an oscillat-
ing field that can be used to generate an electromagnetic field. Energy is built up in the coil and stored as
magnetic energy. The magnetic field then collapses and induces a current flow into the capacitor, which then
builds up an electrical field. When the electrical field in the capacitor collapses, current flows back to the coil,
etc. Energy oscillates between the coil and capacitor at a frequency that is determined by the inductance and
capacitance of the two circuit elements.

LC circuits are used for generating signals at particular frequencies or for picking out
a ­signal at a particular frequency from a more complex signal. They are key components in
many ­applications such as oscillators, filters, and tuners. The living matrix, to be described in
detail in Chapters 10 and 11, contains many materials that have inductance and capacitance
­properties. Figure 3.4 shows a tuned transmitter circuit connected to an antenna and to the
ground (the Earth) transmitting a signal to a similarly tuned receiver circuit.

Technical Details: Inductance and Capacitance

The resonant frequency of an LC circuit is determined by the inductance, L, of the coil, measured
in henrys, and by the capacitance, C, of the capacitor, measured in farads. A farad is the charge in
coulombs a capacitor will accept for the potential across it to change by 1 V. A coulomb, in turn,
is the amount of electric charge transported in 1 s by a steady current of one ampere, and is equal
to 6.241,509,745 × 1018 electrons. The henry is defined in terms of the rate of change of current in
a circuit. When the rate of change is 1 A s−1, and the resulting electromotive force is 1 V, then the
inductance of the circuit is 1 H.

Halliday & Resnick (1970)

3—Basic Physics and Biophysics: Electromagnetism and Resonance 29

A A
n n
t Electromagnetic t
e waves e
n n
n n
a a

L C L C

Transmitter Receiver

Ground Ground
Figure 3.4 A tuned LC circuit on the left provides the basis for a radio transmitter. The tuned circuit on the
right, a car radio, is the receiver. When the values of L and C in the two circuits are resonant, an electromag-
netic signal will be transmitted from the transmitter to the receiver.

Antennas
Antenna theory may sound like a boring, dry subject, but understanding how an antenna radiates or
captures a signal is central to regulatory biology and energy medicine. Antenna theory can help us
understand fundamental energetic processes taking place in the human body. Any object that is elec-
trically conductive will have antenna properties. Metallic wires are good antennas, and many mol-
ecules, including DNA, are referred to as molecular wires, and are therefore good antennas as well.
At body temperatures, all of the molecules in the body are vibrating. Some of this vibratory
energy is converted into electromagnetic fields (radio waves and light) that can travel through
space and that can cause vibrations in other resonant molecules a distance away. You don’t have
to know how an antenna works to understand biology. But understanding a bit about radio and
antennas and the mysterious process by which antennas launch energy and information from Here
to another antenna, There, can be very helpful.
As can be seen in Figure 3.5, if you straighten out an ordinary paperclip, you have a 160 m
antenna. Obviously the paperclip is not 160 m long. The paperclip is seven octaves below 160 m.
When we use a word such as ‘octave’ we are using musical notation, and this is entirely appro-
priate for electromagnetics. An orchestra typically uses instruments over eight octaves. Music
theory and antenna theory are similar because they deal with harmonics. In both cases dividing
the wavelength by 2 increases the resonant frequency by a single octave, and multiplying the
wavelength by 2 decreases the resonant frequency by one octave. The human ear tends to hear all
of these notes as being essentially ‘the same’. Likewise, antennas ‘tuned’ to different octaves will
function similarly. In the Western system of musical notation, notes that are octaves apart are
given the same note name. In radio terminology, antennas that are octaves apart are also given
the same name. In the Western system of music notation, the name of a note an octave above A is
30 ENERGY MEDICINE

160 m

Figure 3.5 Straighten out an ordinary paperclip, and you have a 160 m antenna. 160 m is the wavelength
(the length of one wave) corresponding to a frequency of about 2,000,000 cycles per second (abbreviated as
Hz). The paperclip is seven octaves below 160 m. An orchestra typically uses instruments over eight octaves.

also A. In music theory, this is called octave equivalency. This process of dividing or multiplying a
resonant frequency transposes it into a different octave by doubling or halving its wavelength in
an exact and precise manner. An octave-shifted therapeutic resonant frequency will have a pre-
cise correlation with the first or primary therapeutic resonant frequency. Again, musical notation
applies to this situation. The 160 m paperclip corresponds to a frequency of about 2,000,000 Hz.
The abbreviation, Hz, means cycles per second and is named after Heinrich Hertz (1857–1894),
a German scientist who was the first to demonstrate the existence of electromagnetic waves by
building an apparatus that could both produce and detect radio waves.
For the most efficient energy transfer from one antenna to another, the transmitting and
receiving antennas have the same geometry, are a single wavelength long, and are separated
by an exact multiple of the wavelength (Figure 3.6). However, efficient energy transfer can
also occur if the transmitting and receiving antennas are some fraction or multiple of the
wavelength.

Brain Waves
Delta wave: (< 4 Hz)
Theta wave: (4–7 Hz)
Alpha wave: (8–15 Hz)
Mu wave: (8–12 Hz)
Beta wave: (16–31 Hz)
Gamma: (> 32 Hz)

Electroencephalography

Electromagentic
waves

Figure 3.6 For completely efficient energy transfer from one antenna to another, the transmitting and receiving
antennas have the same geometry and are a single wavelength long and are separated by an exact multiple
of the wavelength.
3—Basic Physics and Biophysics: Electromagnetism and Resonance 31

Occasionally, one hears confusing statements about this. For example, one scientist stated that
extremely low frequencies could not possibly interact with living tissues because their wavelength
was far too long. For example, an electric power frequency field at 60 Hz has a wavelength of
more than 3000 miles – about the distance from Los Angeles to New York! Since the length
of the human body is far shorter than this, one might say that such a long wave cannot possibly
interact with the human body – but that would be wrong! Living tissues produce frequencies in
this range, and external fields will affect those biological rhythms by entraining them. Examples
include the electric field of the heart (about 1 Hz if the heart is beating at 60 beats per minute),
and brain waves (see text box). The psychoactive correlates of the various brain wave frequencies
are well known.
Listening to a favourite public radio station involves adjusting the radio to W282AB Dover at
104.3 MHz (104.3 million hertz). What does this mean, and what does it mean for energy medi-
cine? Every day we use our radios, televisions, and cell phones. These devices use electromagnetic
fields of particular frequencies to send information over a distance, from a transmitter to a receiver.
All of these devices involve electromagnetic fields of particular frequencies. Setting the dial for
104.3 involves selecting a frequency of 104,300,000 cycles per second. If antennas did not radiate
and absorb energy, we would not have radio, television, radar, cell phones, or microwave ovens. If
tissues and molecules in the human body did not radiate and absorb energy by the same process,
many energy medicine therapies would not exist.
W282AB Dover is an FM station. FM refers to frequency modulation. Other stations are on
the AM dial, with AM referring to amplitude modulation. The nature of these two kinds of sig-
nals is important for energy medicine, because the human body uses both AM and FM signaling.
Figure 3.7 explains the difference between AM and FM. Both types of radio transmission involve
a fundamental frequency called the carrier wave. In AM, the amplitude or height of the carrier
wave is modulated up and down. The receiver subtracts the carrier wave and retrieves the original
information that was used to modulate the carrier. In FM, the frequency instead of the amplitude
of the carrier wave is modulated up and down without changes in its amplitude. FM is commonly
used for high-fidelity broadcasts of music and speech and television sound.
Figure 3.8 shows some manmade antennas used for television, and cell phone communica-
tions. The size and other geometrical characteristics of the antennas determine their resonant
frequency.

Carrier wave

Signal (music, voice, data)

Amplitude modulated (AM)

Frequency modulated (FM)

Figure 3.7 Both types of radio transmission involve a fundamental frequency called the carrier wave. In AM,
the amplitude or height of the carrier wave is modulated up and down. The receiver subtracts the carrier wave
and retrieves the original information that was used to modulate the carrier. In FM, the frequency instead of
the amplitude of the carrier wave is modulated up and down without changes in its amplitude.
32 ENERGY MEDICINE

Figure 3.8 Manmade antennas used for television, and cell phone communications.

Biological Antennas
Figure 3.9 shows some biological antennas: an insect antenna, a DNA molecule, and an ad-
enosine triphosphate (ATP) molecule. Each of these natural antennas is the product of mil-
lions of years of evolutionary refinement. Study of their properties involves physics, electronics
and biophysics. This chapter will explain the basics of how these antennas operate and their
biological significance. There are many phenomena in complementary and alternative medicine
that are incomprehensible without the understandings developed in this chapter.
Studies of the insect antenna have revealed an important aspect of biological resonance.
Entomologists had always assumed that the insect antenna was a scent receptor, used by insects
of opposite sex to locate each other by following the trail of airborne insect hormones called
pheromones. The problem with this idea is that a male moth, for example, can find a female a

(B) (C)
Figure 3.9 Natural antennas. (A) An insect antenna. (B) The DNA molecule. (C) The adenosine triphosphate
(ATP) molecule. (Image (A) courtesy of Philip S. Callahan.)
3—Basic Physics and Biophysics: Electromagnetism and Resonance 33

mile away even when the wind is blowing the scent molecules away from him instead of toward
him. In a series of studies, Phillip Callahan demonstrated that the pheromone molecules are
actually molecular antennas that emit radio signals. The male moth looking for the female is not
attracted by the scent or smell of the pheromones, but by the radio signals the molecules emit.
This research has been summarized by Oschman and Oschman (2004).

Molecular Antennas
Callahan (1975) pioneered the study of the antenna properties of molecules. There is now de-
tailed clinical evidence that molecules can indeed act as transmitting and receiving antennas.
More detail will be provided in Chapter 16, where the important subject of allergies is discussed.
Previously, it was stated that any electrical conductor can act as an antenna. The DNA molecule
is a classic example. DNA is an electronic conductor (e.g., Fink and Schönenberger, 1999; Porath
et al., 2000). The movement of charges through DNA is electronic and not ionic. DNA molecules
are referred to as quantum wires and can function as antennas.
The usual view of hormone–receptor interactions (Figure 3.10A) involves a secretory cell releasing a
hormone into the extracellular fluid, and the molecule diffusing randomly until it chances to bump into
a receptor on a distant cell. Many have viewed this type of regulatory phenomenon as highly improb-
able or even impossible. Certainly it seems far too slow to explain the rapid and subtle ways organisms
adapt to their environment. An electromagnetic mechanism (Figure 3.10B) would be much faster.

Hormone diffuses randomly

until it encounters receptor

Hormone
receptor

Secretory Tissue cell

cell releases responds to
a hormone hormone

(A)

Signal
Hormone
receptor

Return
Secretory signal Tissue cell
cell releases responds to
(B) a hormone hormone

Figure 3.10 Two models of cell-to-cell signaling. (A) Conventional model in which hormone or neurohormone
is released from a secretory cell, diffuses randomly through the extracellular fluids, and eventually encounters
a receptor on a tissue cell. (B) Photonic model in which the hormone emits an electromagnetic field (photon)
that travels through tissue fluids or along surfaces until it activates the receptor, which, in turn, emits a return
signal informing the secretory cell that the message has been received.
34 ENERGY MEDICINE

Studies of interactions between photons and atoms or molecules have long been a corner-
stone of quantum physics, quantum chemistry, biochemistry, and pharmacology. Single-molecule
spectroscopy was accomplished in the 1990s (Basche et al., 1996). Recent research in Germany
has focused on single-photon communications between two identical molecules (Figure 3.11).
The efforts are driven by potential technological applications in molecular circuits for computers
and other devices. Under some extreme conditions, with very sophisticated techniques, scientists
from Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands have transmitted streams of single photons
between the smallest antennas in the world, i.e., between two molecules (Rezus et al. 2012). The
transmitting molecule has to emit photons of exactly the same color as the receiving molecule can
absorb – in other words, they need to have matching molecular geometry – they must resonate.
One of their goals, which these scientists think they will be able to achieve, is to bounce a photon
back and forth several times between two molecules. Such a ‘quantum radio’ would allow for a
return signal. In terms of Figure 3.10B, the secretory cell would be ‘notified’ that the message was
received. The hallmark of an effective cybernetic system is to develop circular, causal chains that
move from action to sensing to comparison with desired goal, and again to action (Figure 3.12).
While achievement of such interactions between molecules is very challenging in the labora-
tory, it may be much simpler and more effective in the living body. The reason for stating this is
that cells and molecules are coated with a special form of water, known as exclusion zone water,
or EZ water, that has extraordinary properties (see Figure 13.13). One property is a capacity to

Figure 3.11 Artist's view of a single organic molecule sending a stream of single photons to a second molecule
at a distance, in quantum analogy to the communication between two radio stations, shown in the distance.
Exciting research from Germany and Switzerland is confirming the idea that molecules can emit photons
that interact with molecules a distance away. This fundamental physics research has profound biomedical
implications with respect to the physiological regulations discussed in this chapter. A group of scientists at the
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light and Department of Physics, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
in Germany has succeeded in producing single photons from a single organic molecule and measuring its
interaction with a second molecule several meters away. The emitter is 1,2:7,8-Dibenzanthanthrene (DBATT).
The transmission is extremely efficient. A second group of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Solid
State Research and the University of Stuttgart is doing similar research. See Rezus et al., 2012 and Siyushev
et al., 2014. Image modified from the original drawn by Lettow (2012).
3—Basic Physics and Biophysics: Electromagnetism and Resonance 35

Input Output
A

B
Figure 3.12 The ideal cybernetic feedback model.

Honeycomb sheet

Oxygen
Hydrogen

EZ layers
Material

Figure 3.13 The deep exclusion zone (EZ) at the surface of a cell or molecule. Diagram to the left shows how
charges on a surface orient layers of water molecules extending for a considerable distance. Diagram on the
right shows how the hexagonally packed water molecules form many layers of honeycomb sheets. (Diagram
on the left is from Pollack (2008); diagram on right is from Pollack (2013) page xxiv.)

exclude solutes from approaching the surfaces of structures such as proteins and cell surfaces.
If discovery is confirmed, it adds another dimension of improbability to the scheme shown in
Figure 3.10A. If confirmed, it will support the concept of electromagnetic interactions between
signal molecules and receptors, with the fields acting through water in the exclusion zone.
Some theoretical and practical aspects of molecular antennas can be found in a United States
Patent by Boehm (2007):

Methods are provided for determining resonant frequencies that can be used therapeutically, for
example, for debilitation of specific types of genomic materials, including DNA and/or RNA,
genes, and gene sections. The methods can be used in relation to various human and animal
diseases and conditions. Therapeutic resonance frequencies are adapted for use with available
frequency-emitting devices by shifting frequencies up or down by factors of 2, 4, 6, etc. Boehm
(2007), United States Patent 7,280,874.

Boehm, 2007

As an example of her method, Boehm used the pathogen that causes Lyme disease. The
pathogen is a spirochete called Borrelia burgdorferi (Figure 3.14). This pathogen causes a very
serious bacterial infection via a tick bite that affects humans and animals. This little organism
has created a worldwide health issue, affecting millions of people. We know the structure of the
genome of the B31 strain of this pathogen. Because of its clinical significance, it was the third
microbial genome ever sequenced, enabling a determination of the length and resonant fre-
quency of the molecule acting as an antenna. The genome contains 910,725 base pairs and 853
genes. Results of the sequencing project were reported in Nature in 1997 (Fraser et al., 1997).
36 ENERGY MEDICINE

Figure 3.14 An important example of the use of resonant frequencies in medicine is provided by Borrelia
burgdorferi the spirochete that causes Lyme disease. Infections of this organism have also been linked to
non-Hodgkin lymphomas.

Boehm’s method can be used more generally to determine therapeutic resonant frequencies
that can be used to treat various human and animal diseases and conditions. Specifically, certain
frequencies will activate specific enzymes and genes, and other frequencies will inhibit them. When
a disorder is caused by a pathogen (bacterium or virus), specific frequencies can have precise effects:
■ Inhibition of the processes carried out by DNA and/or RNA, genes, and pieces of genes.
■ Inhibition of metabolic pathways that slow or stop reproduction of the pathogen.
■ Stimulation of metabolic pathways within the pathogen causing it to reproduce so rapidly

that it consumes its sources of nutrients and can therefore no longer proliferate.
■ Stimulation of metabolism in cells of the immune system so that they are better able to

remove the pathogens and their metabolic products.

Infections by this organism have also been linked to non-Hodgkin lymphomas (Guidoboni
et al., 2006). Technical details of how information on the genome is converted to a therapeutic
frequency are described in the box.

Calculating the Resonant Frequency of the Lyme Disease Pathogen:

Technical Details
■ The length of the molecular antenna is obtained by adding the cumulative lengths of the
910,724 base pairs plus the distances between them, 3.403,846 e-10 m, giving a total length
of 3.099,96 e-4 m (Figure 3.13B). This enabled Boehm (2007) to estimate the resonant
frequency of the genome of the pathogen as 3.415,150,16 e11 Hz. e-10 m.
■ The resonant frequency must be determined in relation to the velocity of electromagnetic
radiation in vivo. The primary resonant frequency is calculated to be 3.415,150,16 e11 Hz.
■ There has to be appropriate ‘impedance matching’ between the signal propagating in air
and in the aqueous environment within the organism, and the method takes this into
consideration.
■ This frequency is actually in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum.
■ To find a convenient sub-harmonic of the primary resonant frequency that falls in the audio
range, the primary resonant frequency is divided by the number 2 as many times as necessary.
■ In musical terms these frequencies are known as octaves. In the example of the B. burgdorferi
genome, a multi-octave shift to audio range is obtained by dividing the primary therapeutic
resonant frequency by 229, which gives a corresponding second therapeutic resonant fre-
quency of 636.12 Hz, which is in the audio range.

Boehm (2007)
3—Basic Physics and Biophysics: Electromagnetism and Resonance 37

In some cases, no devices are readily available to emit the primary resonant frequency. In
these examples, frequencies that are harmonics (exact multiples) or sub-harmonics (exact frac-
tions) of the primary frequency are effective. The situation is comparable to that described in
the discussion of antenna theory: the best match is between antennas of identical geometry,
but antennas of ½ wave, ¼ wave, and so on will also resonate. For Lyme disease, caused by
B. burgdorferi, the following in vivo therapeutic resonant frequencies have been determined the
audio range:
■ 636.12 Hz
■ 1272.24 Hz
■ 2544.5 Hz
■ 5088.9 Hz

The first of these frequencies, 636.12 Hz, is very close to a frequency (640 Hz) that has been
used in the past for treating Lyme disease (Boehm, 2007).

Oscillations, Vibrations, and Energy Transfers

Vibrations underlie virtually every aspect of nature. The vibrations of atoms create sound and
heat. Light arises from the vibrations of electrons in an object. When we say something is blue,
what is really happening is that light has made the electrons within the object vibrate in a way that
causes the emission of blue light (see Weisskopf ’s 1968 article on how light interacts with mat-
ter). At a basic level, all life depends upon molecules interacting through vibrating or oscillating
energy fields. Virtually all that we know about living systems is based on the analysis of vibrations.
In the living body, each electron, atom, chemical bond, molecule, cell, tissue, organ (and the
body as a whole) has its own vibratory character. Since living structure and function are orderly,
biological oscillations are organized in meaningful ways, and they contribute information to a dy-
namic vibratory network that extends throughout the body and into the space around it. ‘Energy
medicines’ and ‘vibrational medicines’ seek to understand this continuous energetic matrix, and to
interact with it to facilitate healing (Gerber, 1988).
Vibrations are a fundamental part of physics. There is a wide spectrum of electromagnetic vibra-
tory frequencies, covering some 90 octaves. Any therapeutic interaction, whether it uses sound, heat,
laser beams, herbs, aromas, or movements, involves one or more portions of this energy spectrum.
The science of vibrations applies to all clinical methods. Regardless of the philosophy of the
technique being used, intricate energetic interactions occur between nearby individuals, even if they
are not in physical contact. Seeing and talking with another person are energetic interactions, in-
volving light and sound vibrations. Information can be transferred from one organism to another via
energy fields, and living systems are very sensitive to them. Add therapeutic intention and touch to
the equation, and whole new dimensions of subtle but measurable exchanges are brought into play.
Skeptics lump vibrational medicines together as mystical, supernatural, occult, pseudoscience,
flaky, twilight zone, new-age gobbledygook, or, simply, unbelievable (e.g., Barrett and Jarvis, 1993;
Raso, 1995). The dynamic energy systems of the body are dismissed as involving ‘subtle energies
that are alien to physics’.
These critiques are out of date, because modern researchers have confirmed that living organ-
isms do, indeed, comprise dynamic energy systems involving the same sorts of field phenomena
that physicists have been studying for a long time. For example, clinical medicine is beginning to
employ oscillating magnetic fields to ‘jump start’ healing. Vibrational therapies are not magic or
superstition: they are based on biology, chemistry, and physics.

Modern physics … pictures matter not at all as passive and inert, but as being in a continuous
dancing and vibrating motion whose rhythmic patterns are determined by the molecular, atomic,
and nuclear structures. This is also the way the Eastern mystics see the material world. They all
38 ENERGY MEDICINE

emphasize that the universe has to be grasped dynamically, as it moves, vibrates, and dances: that
nature is not a static, but a dynamic equilibrium.
CAPRA (1975)

All objects in the universe are in constant motion. Stillness does not exist. Movements can be
linear (in a straight line), rhythmic, vibratory, or orbital. Some objects move from one position
to another and then back again. A simple example is a weight hanging from a spring as shown
in Figure 3.15A. Put in motion, the weight will move up and down – it will oscillate. The math-
ematical description of this kind of motion is called a sine wave or sinusoid (Figure 3.15B). It is
a pattern that occurs often in nature, including ocean waves, sound waves, light and radio waves
and electrical currents. The human ear can recognize single sine waves as a pure clear tone because
sine waves are representations of a single frequency with no harmonics; some other wave shapes
are also important in energy medicine and are shown in Figure 3.16.

Wavelength

Crest Amplitude

Oscillation Trough

(A) (B) Time

Figure 3.15 (A) The weight is attached to a spring. Put in motion, the weight will move up and down – it will
oscillate. The mathematical description of this motion is called a sine wave (B).

Sine

Square

Triangle

Sawtooth

Figure 3.16 Various wave shapes. They all have the same frequency, but their different shapes will produce
different effects in living systems.
3—Basic Physics and Biophysics: Electromagnetism and Resonance 39

A B C D E

‘Boing’

Figure 3.17 Transformation of energy from one form to another. A wire spring is suspended from a solid sup-
port such as a ceiling (A). A weight is attached to the spring (B). The spring is stretched as the gravitational
potential energy of the weight is converted to the kinetic energy of motion and to elastic energy in the spring.
A battery is connected to the two ends of the spring, causing an electric field to flow through the spring (C).
The electricity generates magnetic fields around the wire and the magnetic fields attract the loops of the
spring toward each other so that the weight is lifted. By lifting the weight, the spring has converted electricity
to magnetism to gravitational potential energy. The attachment of the weight is cut (D) so the weight drops to
the floor (gravitational potential energy is converted to kinetic energy of motion). The spring, suddenly released
from the tension of the weight (E), recoils (elastic is converted to kinetic energy of motion) and ‘boings’ (elastic
energy is converted to sound).

Waves have important characteristics that are crucial to our understanding of energy medicine
and the effects of energy therapies on the human body. The most important characteristics of
waves are their amplitude, wavelength, frequency, and wave shape. Some other kinds of waves will
be discussed later in Chapter 16.
Earlier in this chapter the child on a swing, otherwise known as a pendulum, was given as an
example of a system that rhythmically converts energy from one form to another. Another exam-
ple involves a weight on a spring, as shown in Figure 3.17. In Figure 3.17 we bring in some other
forms of energy. Hanging a weight on the spring causes it to stretch, converting gravitational
potential energy of the weight into elastic energy that is stored in the spring (Figure 3.17B).
Applying a voltage between the top and bottom of the spring creates magnetic fields around
the wire and these fields attract the loops of the spring toward each other so that the weight is
lifted (Figure 3.17C). By lifting the weight, the spring has converted electricity to magnetism to
gravitational potential energy. The attachment of the weight is cut (D) so the weight drops to the
floor (gravitational potential energy is converted to kinetic energy of motion). The spring, sud-
denly released from the tension of the weight (E), recoils (elastic energy is converted to kinetic
energy of motion) and ‘boings’ (elastic energy is converted to sound). When the weight hits the
floor, another sound is produced – the kinetic energy of motion is converted into acoustic energy.

Conclusions
Physics and biophysics are the foundation of the discipline of energy medicine. Without these
basic concepts other vital phenomena such as resonance and energy fields remain mysterious.
Likewise, many of the seemingly baffling results with complementary and alternative therapies
40 ENERGY MEDICINE

make no sense unless they are viewed from the perspectives described in this chapter. Many
therapists and many physicians have never had a course in physics, so this part of the subject can
be challenging. The aim of this and the previous chapter is to present the basics in an accurate yet
understandable manner.
On the centennial of Maxwell’s birthday, Albert Einstein described Maxwell’s work as the most
profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton (McFall, 2006).
Einstein kept a photograph of Maxwell on his study wall, alongside pictures of Michael Faraday
and Isaac Newton (Arianrhod, 2003).

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