Reverse-Robust Computation with Chemical Reaction Networks

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kini, Ravi, Doty, David
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Kini, Ravi
Doty, David
author_facet Kini, Ravi
Doty, David
contents Chemical reaction networks, or CRNs, are known to stably compute semilinear Boolean-valued predicates and functions, provided that all reactions are irreversible. However, this property does not hold for wet-lab implementations, as all chemical reactions are reversible, even at very slow rates. We study the computational power of CRNs under the reverse-robust computation model, where reactions are permitted to occur either in forward or in reverse up to a cutoff point, after which they may only occur in forward. Our main results show that all semilinear predicates and all semilinear functions can be computed reverse-robustly, and in fact, that existing constructions continue to hold under the reverse-robust computational model. A key tool used to prove correctness under the reverse-robust computation model is invariants: linear (or linear modulo some $m$) combinations of the counts of the species that are preserved by all reactions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_14355
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Reverse-Robust Computation with Chemical Reaction Networks
Kini, Ravi
Doty, David
Computational Complexity
Chemical reaction networks, or CRNs, are known to stably compute semilinear Boolean-valued predicates and functions, provided that all reactions are irreversible. However, this property does not hold for wet-lab implementations, as all chemical reactions are reversible, even at very slow rates. We study the computational power of CRNs under the reverse-robust computation model, where reactions are permitted to occur either in forward or in reverse up to a cutoff point, after which they may only occur in forward. Our main results show that all semilinear predicates and all semilinear functions can be computed reverse-robustly, and in fact, that existing constructions continue to hold under the reverse-robust computational model. A key tool used to prove correctness under the reverse-robust computation model is invariants: linear (or linear modulo some $m$) combinations of the counts of the species that are preserved by all reactions.
title Reverse-Robust Computation with Chemical Reaction Networks
topic Computational Complexity
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.14355