Evolution of Life in a Fractal Universe

Abstract

I have developed a ≪binary theory of everything≫ which describes how a simple mechanism of vacuum decay might have generated the complex structures of our Universe. According to this theory the Universe is a closed system born from a quantistic macroscopic vacuum fluctuation that is counterbalanced by a complementary fluctuation on a microscopic scale. The re-establishment of isotropic symmetries broken by these fluctuations results in two opposing trends: a diffusive process of binary dissociation and a complementary contractive process of binary association. Iteration and coupling of these binary processes produce dissipative systems in which the entropy of diffusing entities increases and that of contracting entities decreases. On the macroscopic level, these two opposite irreversible trends are related to the diffusion of the electromagnetic energy and to the gravitational contraction of matter. On the molecular level, the evolutionary dynamics of chemical systems are the result of the competition between catabolic reactions, degrading energy and chemical compounds, and anabolic reactions, increasing the complexity and the configurational order of material structures. In this scenario, the evolution of life on earth is not a fortuitous event, but is the unavoidable result of the lasting and constant flux of solar energy in large systems of molecules which are able to perform cyclic reactions. The emergence of universal behaviours and of complex fractal structures near the critical points in different physical and biological systems may be the consequence of the fractal topology of vacuum fluctuations and of the resulting binary processes.