Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Exploring Biogenic Dispersion Inside Star Clusters with System Dynamics Modeling

Version 1 : Received: 10 October 2020 / Approved: 12 October 2020 / Online: 12 October 2020 (11:53:44 CEST)

How to cite: Burgos, J.; Sierra, C. Exploring Biogenic Dispersion Inside Star Clusters with System Dynamics Modeling. Preprints 2020, 2020100232. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202010.0232.v1 Burgos, J.; Sierra, C. Exploring Biogenic Dispersion Inside Star Clusters with System Dynamics Modeling. Preprints 2020, 2020100232. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202010.0232.v1

Abstract

The discovery of a growing number of exoplanets and even extrasolar systems supports the scientific consensus that it is possible to find other signs of life in the universe. The present work proposes for the first time, an explicit mechanism inspired by the dynamics of biological dispersion, widely used in ecology and epidemiology, to study the dispersion of biogenic units, interpreted as complex organic molecules, between rocky or water exoplanets (habitats) located inside star clusters. The results of the dynamic simulation suggest that for clusters with populations lower than 4 M+/ly3 it is not possible to obtain biogenic worlds after 5 Gyr. Above this population size, biogenic dispersion seems to follow a power law, the larger the density of worlds lesser will be the impact rate (β ) value to obtain at least one viable biogenic Carrier habitat after 5 Gyr. Finally, when we investigate scenarios by varying β, a well-defined set of density intervals can be defined in accordance to its characteristic β value, suggesting that biogenic dispersion has a behavior of “minimal infective dose” of “minimal biogenic effective” events by interval i.e. once this dose has been achieved, doesn’t matter if additional biogenic impact events occur on the habitat.

Keywords

biogenic dispersion; epidemic model; system dynamics; astrobiology; stellar clusters

Subject

Environmental and Earth Sciences, Atmospheric Science and Meteorology

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Metrics 0


×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.