Biology and nonequilibrium: remarks on a paper by J.L. England

TL;DR

This paper critically examines J.L. England's work on the statistical physics of self-replication, offering alternative derivations and extending the analysis to quantum systems, thereby providing a more general physical framework.

Contribution

It replaces stochastic dynamics with deterministic ones and introduces a metastable state definition based on equilibrium statistical mechanics, rederiving and generalizing England's detailed balance relation.

Findings

Derived a more natural detailed balance relation applicable to quantum systems.

Reformulated England's relation using deterministic dynamics.

Provided a physical basis for biological discussions on self-replication.

Abstract

This note analyzes the physical basis of J.R. England's paper "Statistical physics of self-replication." [J. Chem. Phys. {\bf 139}, 121923(2013)]. We follow England's use of time-reversal symmetry but replace stochastic by deterministic dynamics, and introduce a definition of metastable states based on equilibrium statistical mechanics. We rederive England's detailed balance relation and obtain another similar relation which appears more natural and remains valid for quantum systems. The detailed balance relations are based on serious physical ideas, and either of them can be used for England's biological discussion. This biological discussion does of course deserve further scrutiny.