From Dissipation to Replication. The Thermodynamic Origin of the Kinetic Axiom in the Emergence of Evolution

The "kinetic-populational" model for the origin of evolutionary systems (Iguiniz Agesta, 2025) demonstrates that a minimal capacity for molecular replication is a sufficient axiom for the inevitable emergence of Darwinian dynamics. However, this framework leaves a fundamental question unresolved: what is the physicochemical origin of such a minimal replicator? This work provides the foundation for that axiom, grounding it in non-equilibrium thermodynamics. We argue that, under sustained energy gradients, the spontaneous formation of dissipative structures is a thermodynamic imperative (Prigogine & Stengers, 1984). Within the combinatorial space of such structures, a subset will statistically acquire self-copying properties through autocatalytic loops or template mechanisms (Kauffman, 1993; Hordijk et al., 2010). This replicative capacity is not a rare accident but a thermodynamically filtered outcome: structures that best channel ambient free energy into self-propagation persist (England, 2013). Thus, we unify two causal levels: 1) The thermodynamic selection of persistent, entropy-producing structures, which generates a landscape of potential replicators, and 2) The kinetic selection (previous model) that amplifies and optimizes them into full evolutionary systems. This synthesis transforms the replicative axiom from a postulate into a theorem of physics, closing the mechanistic gap between energy flow and the origin of Darwinian evolution.