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From plasma crystals and helical structures towards inorganic living matter


The open–access journal for physics
New Journal of Physics

From plasma crystals and helical structures towards inorganic living matter

V N Tsytovich
1G E Morll
V E Fortov
N G Gusein-Zade
B A Klumov
and S V Vladimirov


General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Science, Vavilova str. 38,
Moscow, 119991, Russia
Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, 85740 Garching, Germany
Insitute of Physics of Extremal State of Matter, Russian Academy of Science,
Moscow, Russia
School of Physics, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
E-mail: tsyto@mpe.mpg.de

New Journal of Physics 9 (2007) 263
Received 19 April 2007
Published 14 August 2007
Online at http://www.njp.org/
doi:10.1088/1367-2630/9/8/263

Abstract. Complex plasmas may naturally self-organize themselves into stable interacting helical structures that exhibit features normally attributed to organic living matter.

The self-organization is based on non-trivial physical mechanisms of plasma interactions involving over-screening of plasma polarization. As a result, each helical string composed of solid micro particles is topologically and dynamically controlled by plasma uxes leading to particle charging and over-screening, the latter providing attraction even among helical strings of the same charge sign. These interacting complex structures exhibit thermodynamic and evolutionary features thought to be peculiar only to living matter such as bifurcations that serve as ‘memory marks’, self-duplication, metabolic rates in a thermo dynamically open system, and non-Hamiltonian dynamics.

We examine the salient features of this new complex ‘state of soft matter’ in light of the autonomy, evolution, progenity and auto poiesis principles used to dene life.

It is concluded that complex self-organized plasma structures exhibit all the necessary properties to qualify them as candidates for inorganic living matter that may exist in space provided certain conditions allow them to evolve naturally.

Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.
New Journal of Physics 9 (2007) 263 PII: S1367-2630(07)48657-8

1367-2630/07/010263+11$30.00 © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft

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