Aging and efficiency in living systems: Complexity, adaptation and self-organization

Area of Science:

• Thermodynamics
• Complexity Science
• Systems Biology

Background:

• Living systems are open, out-of-equilibrium thermodynamic entities that maintain order by reducing local entropy.
• Aging is characterized by a loss of this out-of-equilibrium state, measured by free-energy rate density, leading to decreased order and efficiency.
• This decline makes systems more fragile and less adaptive to environmental changes, driving them towards thermodynamic equilibrium.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore metrics for understanding aging from a complexity science perspective.
• To identify key metrics that quantify order and self-organization in physical systems.
• To establish the universal applicability of proposed metrics and methodologies by drawing parallels between technological and biological systems.

Main Methods:

• Discussion of various metrics relevant to aging.
• Proposal of 'action efficiency' as a primary metric for quantifying order and self-organization.
• Analysis of interdependencies between different metrics and their influence on system variables.
• Drawing parallels between technological progress and biological growth to validate the methodology.

Main Results:

• Action efficiency emerges as a key metric for quantifying order and self-organization.
• Demonstration of how other metrics depend on action efficiency.
• Explanation of the influence of each metric on other system variables.
• Validation of the universal applicability of the proposed metrics and methodology.

Conclusions:

• Aging can be understood as a decline in a system's ability to maintain its out-of-equilibrium thermodynamic state.
• Action efficiency provides a quantifiable measure of order and self-organization in aging systems.
• The proposed complexity science framework offers new insights into the fundamental processes of aging across diverse systems.