From Physical Difference to Meaning: A Constructor-Theoretic Framework for Prebiotic Information in Casimir-Lifshitz-Coupled Protocell Clusters

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Massoth, Michael
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866914500342448128
author Massoth, Michael
author_facet Massoth, Michael
contents This paper develops a physical framework for the prebiotic emergence of information and meaning. Building on Constructor Theory, we define information as a reproducible physical difference and meaning as a difference with stable functional consequences. Casimir-Lifshitz-coupled protocell clusters serve as a minimal model that exhibits reproducible attractors, ordered transitions, and autonomous task structures. We show that such clusters carry both informational states (e.g., distances, geometries, gradients) and meaningful states that regulate prebiotic tasks such as approach, exchange, or stabilization. This approach integrates physical mechanisms, computational mechanics, and early proto-semantic functions into a coherent account of information formation before biology.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_20885
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle From Physical Difference to Meaning: A Constructor-Theoretic Framework for Prebiotic Information in Casimir-Lifshitz-Coupled Protocell Clusters
Massoth, Michael
Biological Physics
General Literature
Populations and Evolution
This paper develops a physical framework for the prebiotic emergence of information and meaning. Building on Constructor Theory, we define information as a reproducible physical difference and meaning as a difference with stable functional consequences. Casimir-Lifshitz-coupled protocell clusters serve as a minimal model that exhibits reproducible attractors, ordered transitions, and autonomous task structures. We show that such clusters carry both informational states (e.g., distances, geometries, gradients) and meaningful states that regulate prebiotic tasks such as approach, exchange, or stabilization. This approach integrates physical mechanisms, computational mechanics, and early proto-semantic functions into a coherent account of information formation before biology.
title From Physical Difference to Meaning: A Constructor-Theoretic Framework for Prebiotic Information in Casimir-Lifshitz-Coupled Protocell Clusters
topic Biological Physics
General Literature
Populations and Evolution
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.20885