The steady-state degree and mixed volume of a chemical reaction network

Abstract

The steady-state degree of a chemical reaction network is the number of complex steady-states, which is a measure of the algebraic complexity of solving the steady-state system. In general, the steady-state degree may be difficult to compute. Here, we give an upper bound to the steady-state degree of a reaction network by utilizing the underlying polyhedral geometry associated with the corresponding polynomial system. We focus on three case studies of infinite families of networks, each generated by joining smaller networks to create larger ones. For each family, we give a formula for the steady-state degree and the mixed volume of the corresponding polynomial system.