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. 2016 Aug 19;371(1701):20150438. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0438

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© 2016 The Author(s)

Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

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Figure 2. — Symmetry breaking and the origin of homochirality. Using Frank's model (see text), the potential function associated with the dynamics of a racemic mixture under the reaction set (1–3) is displayed (for different β). The unstable point (open circle) is associated with the ρ₁ = 1/2 = ρ₂ racemic mixture, which is unstable. Deviations from this symmetric state lead to either [D] = 0, [L] = 1 or a [D] = 1, [L] = 0 final state.

Inline graphic — Symmetry breaking and the origin of homochirality. Using Frank's model (see text), the potential function associated with the dynamics of a racemic mixture under the reaction set (1–3) is displayed (for different β). The unstable point (open circle) is associated with the ρ₁ = 1/2 = ρ₂ racemic mixture, which is unstable. Deviations from this symmetric state lead to either [D] = 0, [L] = 1 or a [D] = 1, [L] = 0 final state.