Oscillatory Interfacial Selection: A Testable Physical Mechanism for Prebiotic Molecular Sorting
Abstract
We propose that prebiotic molecular selection could arise from two coupled physical components: oscillatory interfacial sorting — repeated mechanical expansion and compression of air–water interfaces generating differential adsorption, retention, squeeze-out, and readsorption — and a compositional ratchet — a memory process preventing expelled material from fully reincorporating, so that sorting cumulates across cycles. The underlying sorting physics is experimentally grounded: pulmonary-surfactant model systems demonstrate composition-dependent redistribution and interfacial enrichment under mechanical area deformation. But sorting alone need not cumulate: for an ordinary interface in a large bulk volume, expelled molecules can return on re-expansion, so directional enrichment requires some intrinsic or external source of compositional memory. Selection therefore requires both discrimination (oscillation) and memory (the ratchet). We present a discriminating experimental design — static, oscillating, no-interface, and matched-turnover arms, plus a closed-system vs. defined-sink comparison with an explicit five-outcome interpretation matrix — with time-resolved compositional measurements, preregistered predictions including a hypothesized kinetic selection window, and a four-level falsification hierarchy. The hypothesis is deliberately narrow: a testable two-component physical mechanism for prebiotic molecular sorting, not a historical account of life's origin.
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BibTeX
@misc{godin2026oscillatory,
title = {{Oscillatory Interfacial Selection: A Testable Physical Mechanism for Prebiotic Molecular Sorting}},
author = {Yan Godin},
howpublished = {Zenodo},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23428454},
url = {https://zenodo.org/records/23428454},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Oscillatory Interfacial Selection: A Testable Physical Mechanism for Prebiotic Molecular Sorting
AU - Yan Godin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
PB - Zenodo
DO - 10.5281/zenodo.23428454
UR - https://zenodo.org/records/23428454
AB - We propose that prebiotic molecular selection could arise from two coupled physical components: oscillatory interfacial sorting — repeated mechanical expansion and compression of air–water interfaces generating differential adsorption, retention, squeeze-out, and readsorption — and a compositional ratchet — a memory process preventing expelled material from fully reincorporating, so that sorting cumulates across cycles. The underlying sorting physics is experimentally grounded: pulmonary-surfactant model systems demonstrate composition-dependent redistribution and interfacial enrichment under mechanical area deformation. But sorting alone need not cumulate: for an ordinary interface in a large bulk volume, expelled molecules can return on re-expansion, so directional enrichment requires some intrinsic or external source of compositional memory. Selection therefore requires both discrimination (oscillation) and memory (the ratchet). We present a discriminating experimental design — static, oscillating, no-interface, and matched-turnover arms, plus a closed-system vs. defined-sink comparison with an explicit five-outcome interpretation matrix — with time-resolved compositional measurements, preregistered predictions including a hypothesized kinetic selection window, and a four-level falsification hierarchy. The hypothesis is deliberately narrow: a testable two-component physical mechanism for prebiotic molecular sorting, not a historical account of life's origin.
ER -