Thermodynamic dissipation does not bound replicator growth and decay rates

Abstract

In a well-known paper, Jeremy England derived a bound on the free energy dissipated by a self-replicating system [England, "Statistical physics of self-replication", The Journal of Chemical Physics, 2013]. This bound is usually interpreted as a universal relationship that connects thermodynamic dissipation to replicator per-capita decay and growth rates. We argue from basic thermodynamic principles against this interpretation. In fact, we suggest that such a relationship cannot exist in principle, because it is impossible for a thermodynamically-consistent replicator to undergo both per-capita growth and per-capita decay back into reactants. Instead, replicator may decay into separate waste products, but in that case, replication and decay are two independent physical processes, and there is no universal relationship that connects their thermodynamic and dynamical properties.