Long-term behaviours of Autocatalytic Sets

TL;DR

This paper explores the long-term dynamics of Autocatalytic Sets by linking their topological features with their behavior over time using Chemical Reaction Network theory.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to connect the topology of Autocatalytic Sets with their dynamical behavior through Chemical Reaction Network analysis.

Findings

Identification of network motifs predicting long-term behavior

Connection established between topology and dynamics of autocatalytic networks

First attempt to analyze long-term behavior of autocatalytic sets

Abstract

Autocatalytic Sets are reaction networks theorised as networks at the basis of life. Their main feature is the ability of spontaneously emerging and self-reproducing. The Reflexively and Food-generated theory provides a formal definition of Autocatalytic Sets in terms of graphs with peculiar topological properties. This formalisation has been proved to be a powerful tool for the study of the chemical networks underlying life, and it was able to identify autocatalytic structures in real metabolic networks. However, the dynamical behaviour of such networks has not been yet complitely clarified. In this work, we present a first attempt to connect the topology of an Autocatalytic Set with its dynamics. For this purpose, we represent Autocatalytic Sets in terms of Chemical Reaction Networks, and we use the Chemical Reaction Network theory to detect motifs in the networks'structure, that allow us to determine the long-term behaviour of the system.