Fig. 6: Simplified mathematical approach to the polymerization and replication of a ssRNA molecule on clay surfaces.

A Dependence of the mean polymer length \(\bar{l}\) produced on the average interaction parameter γ₀ in three scenarios: a constant environment (γ = γ₀), an oscillating environment with amplitude A =0.5 (γ₀≥ A to avoid meaningless negative γ) and period T = 5, and an oscillating environment of relative amplitude f = 0.75 and T = 5. The maximum mean length of the polymers produced in an oscillating environment \({\bar{l}}_{\max }\) and in the constant environment \({\bar{l}}_{{{\rm{cons}}}}=1.4823\) are remarked. B Difference between the maximum mean length produced in oscillating environments and in the constant environment for an exhaustive range of system parameters. Interestingly, all values of \({\bar{l}}_{\max }-{\bar{l}}_{{{\rm{cons}}}}\) are > 0. C Dependence of the mean length of polymers produced in oscillating environments \(\bar{l}\) with the average interaction parameter γ₀ and the period T, f = 0.6. D Dependence of the maximum mean length of the polymers \({\bar{l}}_{\max }\) produced in oscillating environments with the amplitude fraction f and the period T. E Mean length \(\bar{l}\) of the polymers produced in oscillating environments for the six different genetic alphabets considered in EarlyWorld and a wide range of γ₀, f = 0.95, and T = 25. F Molecular diversity \({{{\mathcal{A}}}}^{\bar{l}}\) associated with the polymers produced for different genetic alphabets in (E).