Transductive Persistence: A Universal Mechanism for Information Conservation in Non-Equilibrium Systems

This paper proposes transductive persistence as a universal physical mechanism by which information survives structural dissolution in non-equilibrium systems. Contrary to the standard view that information is irretrievably scrambled by entropy once a structure dissolves, this framework shows that information can persist through path-dependent deformation of the surrounding environment, even when the original structure no longer exists. Drawing on empirical evidence from metallurgy, electrochemistry, materials science, chemistry, polymer physics, cell biology, and protein folding, the paper demonstrates a recurring pattern: systems that reach apparently identical macroscopic states through different pathways exhibit measurably different future behavior. These differences arise because each pathway carves persistent “environmental grooves”—grain boundaries, interfacial layers, stress fields, lattice distortions, scaffold architectures, or conformational ensembles—that constrain subsequent dynamics. A quantitative path-dependence metric (δ) is introduced to compare the magnitude of this effect across domains. By reframing hysteresis, processing history, and memory effects as manifestations of a single mechanism, transductive persistence extends classical thermodynamics beyond state variables to include environmental configuration. This resolves long-standing puzzles surrounding equilibrium path dependence and provides a physical basis for the arrow of time as the irreversible accumulation of environmental constraints. Finally, the framework is applied to biological and prebiotic systems, suggesting that memory and heredity can arise without dedicated storage molecules, with information conserved as persistent environmental structure. Transductive persistence thus offers a unifying principle for information conservation, temporal asymmetry, and the emergence of complex organization across physical and biological systems.