In this article, we attempt to convince the reader that the origin of life was such an exceptionally unlikely event that it probably has never occurred elsewhere. This involves an explicit calculation using the laws of physics which, while speculative, may encapsulate the essential science without knowledge of biological details. Making only physics, and no biology, assumptions about the origin of the first single celled organism (SCO) on Earth, we adopt methods of quantum tunnelling to make an estimate of the probability PSCO for the origin of life. We argue that before the time tSCO laws of physics must suffice and assume a first-order phase transition which nucleates at the first SCO production. In the classical limit where Planck's constant vanishes h → 0, PSCO also vanishes and remains extremely small for the correct value of $h$. Thus quantum mechanics plays a central role in permitting life to form. We compare the resultant probability with the expected number of exoplanets in the Milky Way (~1012) and the Visible Universe (~1024) and conclude that the probability of extraterrestrial life in the Visible Universe is infinitesimal. This result suggests that the visible universe is a lonely place for humankind because extraterrestrial life will never be encountered.
| Published in | American Journal of Physics and Applications (Volume 13, Issue 2) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ajpa.20251302.12 |
| Page(s) | 28-30 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Vacuum Tunnelling, Planck's Constant, First-order Phase Transition, Origin of Life
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APA Style
Frampton, P. H. (2025). A Physics Model for Origin of Life. American Journal of Physics and Applications, 13(2), 28-30. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpa.20251302.12
ACS Style
Frampton, P. H. A Physics Model for Origin of Life. Am. J. Phys. Appl. 2025, 13(2), 28-30. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpa.20251302.12
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ajpa.20251302.12,
author = {Paul Howard Frampton},
title = {A Physics Model for Origin of Life},
journal = {American Journal of Physics and Applications},
volume = {13},
number = {2},
pages = {28-30},
doi = {10.11648/j.ajpa.20251302.12},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpa.20251302.12},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajpa.20251302.12},
abstract = {In this article, we attempt to convince the reader that the origin of life was such an exceptionally unlikely event that it probably has never occurred elsewhere. This involves an explicit calculation using the laws of physics which, while speculative, may encapsulate the essential science without knowledge of biological details. Making only physics, and no biology, assumptions about the origin of the first single celled organism (SCO) on Earth, we adopt methods of quantum tunnelling to make an estimate of the probability PSCO for the origin of life. We argue that before the time tSCO laws of physics must suffice and assume a first-order phase transition which nucleates at the first SCO production. In the classical limit where Planck's constant vanishes h → 0, PSCO also vanishes and remains extremely small for the correct value of $h$. Thus quantum mechanics plays a central role in permitting life to form. We compare the resultant probability with the expected number of exoplanets in the Milky Way (~1012) and the Visible Universe (~1024) and conclude that the probability of extraterrestrial life in the Visible Universe is infinitesimal. This result suggests that the visible universe is a lonely place for humankind because extraterrestrial life will never be encountered.},
year = {2025}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - A Physics Model for Origin of Life AU - Paul Howard Frampton Y1 - 2025/04/10 PY - 2025 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpa.20251302.12 DO - 10.11648/j.ajpa.20251302.12 T2 - American Journal of Physics and Applications JF - American Journal of Physics and Applications JO - American Journal of Physics and Applications SP - 28 EP - 30 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-4308 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpa.20251302.12 AB - In this article, we attempt to convince the reader that the origin of life was such an exceptionally unlikely event that it probably has never occurred elsewhere. This involves an explicit calculation using the laws of physics which, while speculative, may encapsulate the essential science without knowledge of biological details. Making only physics, and no biology, assumptions about the origin of the first single celled organism (SCO) on Earth, we adopt methods of quantum tunnelling to make an estimate of the probability PSCO for the origin of life. We argue that before the time tSCO laws of physics must suffice and assume a first-order phase transition which nucleates at the first SCO production. In the classical limit where Planck's constant vanishes h → 0, PSCO also vanishes and remains extremely small for the correct value of $h$. Thus quantum mechanics plays a central role in permitting life to form. We compare the resultant probability with the expected number of exoplanets in the Milky Way (~1012) and the Visible Universe (~1024) and conclude that the probability of extraterrestrial life in the Visible Universe is infinitesimal. This result suggests that the visible universe is a lonely place for humankind because extraterrestrial life will never be encountered. VL - 13 IS - 2 ER -
Department of Mathematics and Physics “Ennio De Giorgi”, University of Salento and INFN-Lecce, Lecce, Italy
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