Functional Stability Theory II: Chemical Stability and Autocatalytic Selection (DRAFT)

DRAFT version. This preprint is part of an active research programme and remains subject to revision, correction, and journal review. A game-theoretic framework for prebiotic chemistry, interpreting autocatalytic networks, hypercycles, and chirality selection as Nash-equilibrium-like structures of thermodynamic games. Building on Dynamic Kinetic Stability (DKS) and the England inequality, we propose that the Maximum Entropy Production Principle (MEPP) serves as a stability filter—demarcating the viable manifold of replicating systems—rather than as a causal driver. Empirical motivation comes from Azoarcus ribozyme experiments, where RNA replication dynamics conform to classical payoff matrices (cooperation,…