Is Homeopathy Really That Implausible?

It is often considered that a physico-chemical explanation of homeopathy would require a major rewriting of much of physics, chemistry, and biochemistry. Yet, despite the fact that the bio-activity of homeopathic dilutions appears to fly in the face of modern science, such an upheaval might not actually be necessary. The aim of this presentation is to demonstrate that we can indeed formulate a plausible and testable theory of homeopathy based on current physics and chemistry.

We will start by going over the requirements made of an explanation of homeopathy, such as memory of the starting substance, compatibility with the dilution/succussion process, and finally bio-activity. We will then formulate a minimal set of physical assumptions able to explain the experimental results found in homeopathy.

We will show how these assumptions are validated both from the theoretical physics and experimental physico-chemistry side. On the one hand, we have the theoretical predictions of Preparata and DelGiudice of the existence in water structures. They predict the formation of distinct water domains through the stabilising effect of electromagnetic oscillations. On the other hand, we will present a set of experiments from within and outside the field of homeopathy (Demangeat, Elia, Pollack, and others). These experiments support the idea that water does form relatively stable structures under certain conditions and that these structures have electromagnetic properties, which could be at the root of the specific biological effects seen in clinical and animal studies.

Thus, we will show that it is possible to formulate a plausible physico-chemical explanation of homeopathy based on current physics and chemistry. Crucially, this formulation is testable, providing important parameters and suggestions for the design of future experiments.

Keywords: Coherence domains, water structures, homeopathic high dilutions

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).