An Agent-Based, Group-Level Framework for Detecting Life on Exoplanets

An Agnostic Biosignature Based on Modeling Panspermia and Terraforming

The search for a second instance of life is one of the greatest problems of modern science. Outside of creating an artificial origin of life on Earth, the primary targets for the search for life are planets inside or outside the solar system. Realistically, there are just a few locations to search for alien life within the solar system. Outside the solar system, opportunities are nearly unlimited, but theres a catch: it is difficult to attribute, with certainty, features of exoplanets to extraterrestrial life. Simple spectral biosignatures are susceptible to false positives; technosignatures reduce this susceptibility at the expense of strong assumptions about potential underlying life and its technologies. We have developed an agnostic approach to exoplanet life detection that overcomes these limitations by using properties that emerge on the scale of groups of planets, without the need for a smoking-gun single-planet level biosignature. We use an agent-based model to show that if life can spread between star systems, and affect the observable properties of a planet, then a robust signature of life (with very few false positives) can emerge, defined by correlations between planet characteristics and their locations. By clustering planets based only on their observed characteristics, and retaining clusters localized in space, we demonstrate (and evaluate) a way to prioritize specific planets for further observation, based on their potential for containing life. We consider obstacles that must be overcome to practically implement our approach, including identifying specific ways in which better understanding astrophysical and planetary processes would improve our ability to detect life.