Spontaneous Chiral Symmetry Breaking for Finite Systems

Theoretical clues are desirable to help uncover the origin of bio-homochirality in life, as well as the mechanisms for the asymmetric production of functional chiral substances. Here, an open-to-matter reaction network based on a model proposed by Plasson et al. is studied. In the extended model, the statistical fluctuations lead the system to break chiral symmetry autonomously, that is, without any initial enantiomeric excess or external influence. In the stability diagrams, we observe regions of parameter space that correspond to racemic, homochiral, chiral oscillatory, and, to our knowledge, for the first time in a chiral model, chaotic regimes. The dependencies of the final concentrations of chiral substances on the parameters are determined analytically and discussed for both the racemic and homochiral regimes.