Trade-offs between number fluctuations and response in nonequilibrium chemical reaction networks

Abstract

We study the response of chemical reaction networks driven far from equilibrium to logarithmic perturbations of reaction rates. The response of the mean number of a chemical species is observed to be quantitively limited by number fluctuations as well as the maximum thermodynamic driving force. We prove these trade-offs for linear chemical reaction networks and a class of nonlinear chemical reaction networks with a single chemical species. Numerical results for several model systems support the conclusion that these trade-offs continue to hold for a broad class of chemical reaction networks, though their precise form appears to depend sensitively on the deficiency of the network.