The nonequilibrium effective potential is computed for the Frank model of spontaneous mirror symmetry breaking (SMSB) in chemistry in which external noise is introduced to account for random environmental effects. When these fluctuations exceed a critical magnitude, mirror symmetry is restored. The competition between ambient noise and the chiral bias due to physical fields and polarized radiation can be explored with this potential.

• Received 12 March 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.248101