Open Questions on Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics of Chemical Reaction Networks

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in nonequilibrium thermodynamics to understand how chemical reaction networks process energy and perform complex functions, highlighting open challenges in the field.

Contribution

It discusses new insights from nonequilibrium thermodynamics on CRNs and outlines unresolved questions in understanding their energetic and functional properties.

Findings

Recent thermodynamic frameworks shed light on energy processing in CRNs

CRNs can perform complex tasks through nonlinear interactions

Open challenges include quantifying energy efficiency and control mechanisms

Abstract

Chemical reaction networks (CRNs) are prototypical complex systems because reactions are nonlinear and connected in intricate ways, and they are also essential to understand living systems. Here, I discuss how recent developments in nonequilibrium thermodynamics provide new insight on how CRNs process energy and perform sophisticated tasks, and describe open challenges in the field.