Diffusion approximations to the chemical master equation only have a consistent stochastic thermodynamics at chemical equilibrium

Journal Article · Tue Jul 28 04:00:00 EDT 2015 · Journal of Chemical Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4927395· OSTI ID:22493445

The stochastic thermodynamics of a dilute, well-stirred mixture of chemically reacting species is built on the stochastic trajectories of reaction events obtained from the chemical master equation. However, when the molecular populations are large, the discrete chemical master equation can be approximated with a continuous diffusion process, like the chemical Langevin equation or low noise approximation. In this paper, we investigate to what extent these diffusion approximations inherit the stochastic thermodynamics of the chemical master equation. We find that a stochastic-thermodynamic description is only valid at a detailed-balanced, equilibrium steady state. Away from equilibrium, where there is no consistent stochastic thermodynamics, we show that one can still use the diffusive solutions to approximate the underlying thermodynamics of the chemical master equation.

• OSTI ID: 22493445
• Journal Information: Journal of Chemical Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Chemical Physics Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 143; ISSN JCPSA6; ISSN 0021-9606
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
APPROXIMATIONS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DETAILED BALANCE PRINCIPLE
DIFFUSION
EQUILIBRIUM
LANGEVIN EQUATION
NOISE
STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS
STOCHASTIC PROCESSES
THERMODYNAMICS