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Autocatalytic sets and boundaries.

Wim Hordijk1, Mike Steel2

  • 1SmartAnalytiX.com, Lausanne, Switzerland.

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|February 28, 2015
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

We integrated system boundaries into the formal framework of collectively autocatalytic sets (RAF theory). This advance enables the study of life's emergence, evolvability, and unifies existing models of self-sustaining systems.

Keywords:
Autocatalytic setsBoundariesOrigin of life

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Area of Science:

  • Systems chemistry
  • Theoretical biology
  • Origin of life studies

Background:

  • Autopoietic systems, chemotons, and autogens model life as self-sustaining, closed systems.
  • These models emphasize the role of a boundary in maintaining internal reaction networks.
  • Collectively autocatalytic sets (RAF theory) offer a general framework but lack explicit boundary concepts.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To incorporate the concept of a boundary into the formal RAF framework.
  • To explore the implications for the emergence and evolvability of autocatalytic sets.
  • To provide a unifying theoretical basis for models of life's emergence.

Main Methods:

  • Formal integration of boundary conditions within the existing mathematical framework of RAF theory.
  • Analysis of the emergent properties of bounded autocatalytic sets.
  • Comparative analysis with existing models like autopoiesis.

Main Results:

  • Demonstrated that boundaries can be formally incorporated into RAF theory.
  • Showed this integration provides a mechanism for the emergence of higher-level autocatalytic sets.
  • Established that bounded RAFs satisfy conditions for evolvability and can represent other models.

Conclusions:

  • RAF theory, augmented with boundaries, offers a unified framework for studying self-sustaining systems.
  • This approach advances our understanding of life's emergence and its inherent evolvability.
  • Provides a formal basis for integrating diverse theoretical models of life.