Creating the Molecules of Life

by Richard Boyd

Overview

Creating the Molecules of Life discusses origins, including the Big Bang, and the origin of the elements. With a complete presentation and explanation, this book provides evidence that the molecules of life are produced in outer space and how the SNAAP model purports to explain that origin. Extremophiles, which explains that evolution is robust enough to create life forms in a wide variety of conditions, is also presented. Readable for those at the upper undergraduate level, mathematics associated with coupling the nuclear spins to the molecular chirality is discussed. An accompanied appendix is provided to support mathematics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780750319911
Publisher:	Iop Publishing Ltd
Publication date:	03/15/2019
Series:	IPH001
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 10.46(h) x 0.91(d)

About the Author

Richard Boyd received his PhD from the University of Minnesota in nuclear physics. His interest in astrophysics has developed over the years and he is currently an emeritus professor at the Ohio State University where he also works in the astronomy department. Michael Famiano received his PhD in nuclear physics from The Ohio State University and is currently an associate professor of nuclear astrophysics in the Department of Physics at Western Michigan University.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Acknowledgements xii

Author biographies xiii

1 Introduction 1-1

1.1 In the Beginning 1-1

1.2 What is "Life"? 1-4

1.3 The Miller-Urey Experiment 1-8

1.4 General Background and Definitions 1-10

References 1-14

2 What is the Origin of the Lightest Elements? 2-1

2.1 The Big Bang 2-1

2.2 The Supernova Cosmology Project, the High-Z Supernova Project, and the SHOES Collaboration 2-3

2.3 The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 2-6

2.4 The Planck Cosmological Mission 2-7

2.5 Gibers' Paradox 2-9

2.6 Big Bang Nucleosynthesis 2-10

References 2-15

3 What is the Origin of the Rest of the Elements? 3-1

3.1 Introduction to Stellar Nucleosynthesis 3-1

3.1.1 Hydrogen Burning 3-2

3.1.2 Helium Burning 3-8

3.1.3 Subsequent Burning Stages 3-9

3.2 After Stellar Burning 3-10

3.2.1 Creating a Core-collapse Supernova 3-11

3.2.2 Synthesizing the Heavy Elements 3-13

3.2.3 Gravitational Waves, Black Holes, and Neutron Stars 3-17

3.3 Evolved Stars 3-21

3.3.1 White Dwarfs 3-21

3.3.2 Type la Supernovae 3-21

References 3-22

4 Creation of Molecules in the Interstellar Medium 4-1

4.1 The Electromagnetic Spectrum 4-1

4.2 Detecting Photons of Different Energies 4-4

4.3 Secrets from Meteorites 4-9

4.4 Mining the Comets and Asteroids 4-13

4.5 The Next Huge Step: Forming and Maintaining Life from the Basic Constituents 4-16

References 4-18

5 Amino Acids, Chirality, and Neutrinos 5-1

5.1 A Primer on Amino Acids 5-1

5.2 Chirality and Polarization 5-3

5.3 Circularly Polarized Light and Molecular Chirality 5-5

5.3.1 Chiral Selection 5-6

5.3.2 Some Basic Quantum Mechanics 5-7

5.4 Basic Features of the SNAAP Model 5-9

5.5 Characteristics of the SNAAP Model Star 5-13

5.6 Efficiency Estimate 5-15

5.7 The Neutrino Story 5-16

5.8 Interactions of Neutrinos with ¹⁴N 5-19

References 5-24

6 Determining Molecular Properties by Quantum Molecular Calculations 6-1

6.1 Recap 6-1

6.2 Some Background: Magnetic Fields and Nuclei 6-1

6.3 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in Space 6-2

6.4 Thermal Effects 6-5

6.5 Electric Fields and Molecules 6-6

6.6 Shielding 6-7

6.7 How Do We Get Magnetic and Electric Fields at the Same Time? 6-10

6.8 Nuclei Moving in Magnetic Fields, with Antineutrinos 6-11

6.9 Making All of This Work: Magnetochiral Effects with Neutrinos 6-14

6.10 Potential Sites for the SNAAP Model 6-14

6.10.1 Core-collapse Supernovae. Pros and Cons 6-14

6.10.2 Neutron Stars 6-15

References 6-17

7 How the SNAAP Model Selects Chirality 7-1

7.1 Computational Model 7-1

7.1.1 Computational Methods 7-1

7.1.2 Basis Sets 7-3

7.2 Shielding Tensor Calculations 7-4

7.2.1 Chirality-dependent Shielding in Amino Acids 7-4

7.2.2 Effects from the Molecular Electric Dipole Moment 7-6

7.3 Magnetochiral Effects with Neutrinos 7-9

7.4 Results for Other Amino Acids 7-12

7.5 Sites for the SNAAP Model 7-17

References 7-22

8 Experimental Tests of the SNAAP Model 8-1

8.1 Possible Measurements for Direct Confirmation of the SNAAP Model 8-1

8.1.1 Measurements with the Spallation Neutron Source 8-1

8.1.2 Measurements with Neutrinos from a Nuclear Reactor 8-3

8.2 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Measurements as Tests of the SNAAP Model 8-4

8.3 Astronomical and Space Mission Tests of the SNAAP Model 8-7

8.4 Future Theoretical Work 8-8

8.4.1 Autocatalysis 8-9

8.4.2 Environmental Effects 8-9

8.4.3 Astrodynamics 8-10

8.4.4 Molecular Chemistry 8-11

8.5 Effects on the Rest of the Molecule 8-11

8.5.1 Galactic Molecular Evolution Models 8-12

8.5.2 The Formation of Sugars 8-13

References 8-13

9 How Have Scientists Previously Explained the Amino Acid Chirality? 9-1

9.1 Introduction to Models 9-1

9.2 Models that Produce Chirality 9-2

9.2.1 Chiral Selection via Circularly Polarized Sunlight 9-2

9.2.2 Chiral Selection via Starlight 9-4

9.2.3 Chiral Selection via the Weak Interaction 9-8

9.2.4 The Magnetochiral Anisotropy Model 9-11

9.2.5 Chiral Selection via Chemical Selection in Clay 9-13

9.3 Amplification via Chemical Catalysis 9-14

9.4 Laboratory Experiments and Theoretical Developments 9-15

9.5 Terrestrial Amplification 9-15

9.6 Concluding Comments 9-17

References 9-18

10 Beyond the Amino Acids 10-1

10.1 How are More Complicated Molecules Made? 10-1

10.2 How were the More Complex Molecules Created? 10-3

10.3 Extremophiles on Earth 10-6

10.4 And from Outer Space? 10-10

10.5 So Are We Alone in the Universe? 10-13

References 10-14

Appendices

A SNAAP Model Mathematics A-1

B True and False Chirality B-1

Glossary 13-1