Electromagnetic resonances of the biological cell

Natural electromagnetic resonances of a biological cell occur as damped sinusoidal responses distinguishable from the more commonly treated forced responses which are sinusoidal. A worked example, relating to a typical cell, demonstrates the mathematical basis for such phenomena. Because the natural resonances occur when cell dimensions approach the incident wavelength, they have immediate relevance to corrections that have been proposed (for the same reason) to Planck's radiation law, and hence are relevant to cell temperature. Close investigation reveals that the radiation law correction proposed by Balian and Bloch, which explicitly implicates the natural resonances and which was later declared erroneous by other authors, may yet prove to be correct. Indeed, the objection to the Balian and Bloch correction perpetuates what seems to be a fundamental and universal misconception regarding electromagnetic modal theory. Impact of these matters on the direction of cell research could be substantial. Endeavours by researchers in radar spectroscopy have had singular success in the lower bands; prospects of extending the so-called non cooperative target recognition (NCTR) schemes to cell identification researches are discussed briefly. Copyright (2000) Australasian Radiation Protection Society Inc