• Accepted Paper

Universal criticality of entropy production in chemical reaction networks

Kyota Tamano and Keiji Saito

Phys. Rev. Lett. - Accepted 6 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/j2x1-tlq7

Abstract

Stochastic thermodynamics gives universal relations for microscopic entropy production, yet its critical behavior at macroscopic nonequilibrium transitions remains unclassified. We study well-mixed reversible chemical reaction networks by first taking the macroscopic limit and next the long-time limit. We then characterize nonequilibrium transitions described by the bifurcations of the mass-action dynamics in terms of entropy production. Using linear-noise formulas, centermanifold normal forms, and Floquet theory, we obtain generic exponents for entropy-production fluctuations and responses at pitchfork, transcritical, saddle-node, and Hopf bifurcations. Beyond this low-order classification, a trajectory-space Cram'{e}r–Rao type bound yields the universal scaling inequality α−2β≥0. Hence divergent responses require divergent fluctuations, but not conversely, making entropy-production fluctuations a sharper probe of nonequilibrium criticality.

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