dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaHow Long can Left and Right Handed Life Forms Coexist?
| Authors | Axel Brandenburg, Tuomas Multamäki |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | q-bio/0407008 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0407008 |
| DOI | 10.1017/S1473550404001983 |
| Journal | Int.J.Astrobiol. 3 (2004) 209-219 |
Abstract
Reaction-diffusion equations based on a polymerization model are solved to simulate the spreading of hypothetic left and right handed life forms on the Earth's surface. The equations exhibit front-like behavior as is familiar from the theory of the spreading of epidemics. It is shown that the relevant time scale for achieving global homochirality is not, however, the time scale of front propagation, but the much longer global diffusion time. The process can be sped up by turbulence and large scale flows. It is speculated that, if the deep layers of the early ocean were sufficiently quiescent, there may have been the possibility of competing early life forms with opposite handedness.
{
"annotation_id": "970bbae1-d3bd-4160-8b5c-ab2cc91176bc",
"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:01:31.480000Z",
"date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:01:31.480000Z",
"file_hash": "a0df7ac269961b0773d0ef4dc44afc9e473d61eb28151b0a3f60c56091156cf1",
"private": false,
"record": {
"abstract": "Reaction-diffusion equations based on a polymerization model are solved to\nsimulate the spreading of hypothetic left and right handed life forms on the\nEarth\u0027s surface. The equations exhibit front-like behavior as is familiar from\nthe theory of the spreading of epidemics. It is shown that the relevant time\nscale for achieving global homochirality is not, however, the time scale of\nfront propagation, but the much longer global diffusion time. The process can\nbe sped up by turbulence and large scale flows. It is speculated that, if the\ndeep layers of the early ocean were sufficiently quiescent, there may have been\nthe possibility of competing early life forms with opposite handedness.",
"arxiv_id": "q-bio/0407008",
"authors": [
"Axel Brandenburg",
"Tuomas Multam\u00e4ki"
],
"categories": [
"q-bio.BM",
"astro-ph",
"cond-mat.dis-nn"
],
"doi": "10.1017/S1473550404001983",
"journal_ref": "Int.J.Astrobiol. 3 (2004) 209-219",
"title": "How Long can Left and Right Handed Life Forms Coexist?",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0407008"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
"source": {
"execution_id": "9aaca593-4e8b-4c41-af2e-f5a6d8df84b3",
"id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
"type": "Model",
"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
"version": "0.1.0"
},
"user_id": 1000002
}