Catalytic Reaction Sets, Decay, and the Preservation of Information

Wim Hordijk; Jose F. Fontanari

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arXiv · nlin/0211004

Catalytic Reaction Sets, Decay, and the Preservation of Information

Wim Hordijk·Jose F. Fontanari

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Abstract

We study the ability to maintain information in a population of reacting polymers under the influence of decay, i.e., spontaneous breakdown of large polymers. At a certain decay rate, it becomes impossible to maintain a significant concentration of large polymers, while it is still possible to maintain sets of smaller polymers that can maintain the same amount of information. We use a genetic algorithm to evolve reaction sets to generate specific polymer distributions under the influence of decay. In these evolved reaction sets, the beginnings of hypercycle-type structures can be observed, which are believed to have been an important step toward the evolution of the first living cells.

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Wim Hordijk, Jose F. Fontanari. 2002-11-05. Catalytic Reaction Sets, Decay, and the Preservation of Information. https://arxiv.org/abs/nlin/0211004

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