EMERGENCE OF ORDER IN SMALL AUTOCATALYTIC SETS MAINTAINED FAR FROM EQUILIBRIUM - APPLICATION OF A PROBABILISTIC RECEPTOR AFFINITY DISTRIBUTION (RAD) MODEL

We examined the behavior of auto-catalytic sets of polymers by a compu ter simulation. Polymers are allowed to interact with each other, wher eby each polymer molecule may catalyze the formation and degradation o f others. The system is subjected to a set of thermodynamic and kineti c constraints, including a constant influx of free energy, which keeps the system away from chemical equilibrium and thus enables the effect of catalysis. The system is found to continuously change and probe ma ny possible values in the composition space. In this simulation we mak e use of a Receptor Affinity Distribution (RAD) model to predict the p robabilities of interaction and catalysis. Our results indicate that i nitially random sets of polymers, under the assumptions of the model, might accumulate information (i.e., clustering in the composition spac e). Sets will occupy a limited region of composition space, and tempor arily reproduce themselves or disperse and give rise to other sets.