Informational Persistence Model (IPM-2): Evolutionary Foundations and First-Principles Derivation

This work presents IPM-2, the second installment of the Informational Persistence Model (IPM), advancing the transition from empirical framework to first-principles theory. Building on IPM-1 (R² = 0.78 across 40 species), this study derives the metabolic damage exponent β ≈ 1.3 from two independent mechanisms: *Thermodynamic pathway (ectotherms): Arrhenius scaling combined with activation energy asymmetry between correct and erroneous reactions yields β = 1 + ΔE/Eₐ ≈ 1.23*Biochemical pathway (endotherms): Supralinear scaling of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production with metabolic rate yields β ≈ 1.2–1.4. The convergence of these mechanisms—consistent with the empirical estimate β = 1.34 (95% CI: [1.08, 1.60])—demonstrates that metabolic damage scaling is not a fitted parameter, but a consequence of fundamental physical constraints on error accumulation. The model is validated across five evolutionary lineages (cetaceans, primates, rodents, birds, and plants), showing that observed parameter trajectories follow a constrained surface rather than arbitrary variation. We introduce the Evolutionary Information Fitness Functional (EIFF), a constrained optimization framework integrating:-metabolic intensity (η)-informational complexity (K)-repair fidelity (c)-structural decoupling (S)Under explicit biological constraints (ηmin, cbio, Sstruct, Kmin), evolutionary optima emerge at boundary conditions, explaining why extreme longevity is rare and structurally constrained. Importantly, IPM-2 generates a falsifiable prediction: Increasing repair capacity (c) without reducing metabolic damage flux (η) produces sublinear (logarithmic) gains in lifespan, implying diminishing returns for isolated repair-based interventions. This work positions IPM as a candidate first-principles theory of biological longevity, integrating thermodynamics, information theory, and evolutionary optimization. Research Program: From Conjecture to Law. This work is part of an integrated research program: TDF (2026) — Conceptual foundation: death as loss of informational persistenceIPB (2026) — Initial quantitative model (12 species)IPM-1 (2026) — Unified empirical framework (40 species, R² = 0.78)IPM-2 (2026) — First-principles derivation of β + evolutionary structure (this work)IPM-3 (forthcoming) — Molecular validation of structural decoupling (S)IPM-4 (in development) — Derivation of α, γ, δ from information theory