Question

I saw in Atzur here that people think you once dealt a bit with the Sages’ understanding of “se’or and chametz” — what is the difference between leavening and putrefaction, and why fruit juice does not cause leavening, etc.
Full disclosure: I’m not a chemist, even though both my grandfathers were chemists (and one was even a professor); knowledge is not inherited…
So I’d be glad to know whether you have, or whether you know of, material written in an accessible way that tries to analyze, in light of our scientific tools, the way the Sages understood this prohibition. Did they prohibit puffed-up dough? Because of the bubbles? (There are also bubbles in matzot.) Because of the alcohol? Because of the leaven in people’s hearts that comes only to someone who eats dough kneaded with water and not with orange juice (most of which is H2O)? etc.