Weak neutral current and beta radiolysis effects on the origin of biomolecular chirality

Rate equations are defined to estimate the asymmetric decomposition of racemic mixtures by beta radiation. The asymmetry of enantiomer decomposition will depend on the beta ray source strength, the irradiation interval and the temperature. Beta radiolysis is found to be potentially six times as effective as the effects of weak neutral currents, even in chiral molecules with heavy atoms. Beta radiolysis may, then, have been the dominant symmetry-breaking autocatalyst in prebiotic epochs.