Dissipation-driven selection of states in non-equilibrium chemical networks.

ABSTRACT: Life has most likely originated as a consequence of processes taking place in non-equilibrium conditions (e.g. in the proximity of deep-sea thermal vents) selecting states of matter that would have been otherwise unfavorable at equilibrium. Here we present a simple chemical network in which the selection of states is driven by the thermodynamic necessity of dissipating heat as rapidly as possible in the presence of a thermal gradient: states participating to faster reactions contribute the most to the dissipation rate, and are the most populated ones in non-equilibrium steady-state conditions. Building upon these results, we show that, as the complexity of the chemical network increases, the velocity of the reaction path leading to a given state determines its selection, giving rise to non

SUBMITTER: Busiello DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9814615 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature