Nonequilibrium correlations in minimal dynamical models of polymer copying

Living systems produce “persistent” copies of information-carrying polymers, in which template and copy sequences remain correlated after physically decoupling. We identify a general measure of the thermodynamic efficiency with which these nonequilibrium states are created and analyze the accuracy and efficiency of a family of dynamical models that produce persistent copies. For the weakest chemical driving, when polymer growth occurs in equilibrium, both the copy accuracy and, more surprisingly, the efficiency vanish. At higher driving strengths, accuracy and efficiency both increase, with efficiency showing one or more peaks at moderate driving. Correlations generated within the copy sequence, as well as between template and copy, store additional free energy in the copied polymer and limit the single-site accuracy for a given chemical work input. Our results provide insight into the design of natural self-replicating systems and can aid the design of synthetic replicators.

Влияние неравновесных корреляций на эффективные сопротивления между центрами в теории прыжковой проводимости

It has been shown that the nonequilibrium correlations in hopping conductivity can be taken into account by generalizing the Miller–Abrahams network of resistors. The resistances of resistors between nodes in such a network are related to their environment. Moreover, some nonlocal elements exist, which create the voltage on one resistor proportional to the current through the other resistor. These elements are required to make controllable the approximation used to construct the network. The greatest change in the resistance takes place in the resistors, whose resistance is lower than the critical resistance of the percolation theory.