Unlocking the potential of information flow: Maximizing free-energy transduction in a model of an autonomous rotary molecular motor

Abstract

Molecular motors fulfill critical functions within all living beings. Understanding their underlying working principles is therefore of great interest. Here we develop a simple model inspired by the two-component biomolecular motor Fo-F1 ATP synthase. We analyze its energetics and characterize information flows between the machine's components. At maximum output power we find that information transduction plays a minor role for free-energy transduction. However, when the two components are coupled to different environments (e.g., when in contact with heat baths at different temperatures), we show that information flow becomes a resource worth exploiting to maximize free-energy transduction. Our findings suggest that real-world powerful and efficient information engines could be found in machines whose components are subjected to fluctuations of different strength, since in this situation the benefit gained from using information for work extraction can outweigh the costs of information generation.

arXiv comment11 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (43)

• Stochastic thermodynamics, fluctuation theorems, and molecular machines
• Active Particles in Complex and Crowded Environments
• Brownian motors: noisy transport far from equilibrium
• The Mechanics and Statistics of Active Matter
• Physics of Microswimmers - Single Particle Motion and Collective Behavior
• A bacterial ratchet motor
• How far from equilibrium is active matter?
• Ensemble and Trajectory Thermodynamics: A Brief Introduction
• Thermodynamics with continuous information flow
• Irreversibility in active matter systems: Fluctuation theorem and mutual information
• Stochastic mechano-chemical kinetics of molecular motors: a multidisciplinary enterprise from a physicist's perspective
• Stochastic thermodynamics of bipartite systems: transfer entropy inequalities and a Maxwell's demon interpretation
• Entropy production and fluctuation theorems for active matter
• Entropy production of active particles and for particles in active baths
• Theory of nonequilibrium free energy transduction by molecular machines
• Stochastic thermodynamics for active matter
• Imitating Chemical Motors with Optimal Information Motors
• The Entropy Production of Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Active Particles: a path integral method for correlations
• Local detailed balance
• Autonomous engines driven by active matter: Energetics and design principles
• Information-theoretic vs. thermodynamic entropy production in autonomous sensory networks
• Active engines: Thermodynamics moves forward
• Maximizing power and velocity of an information engine
• Nonequilibrium dissipation-free transport in F1-ATPase and the thermodynamic role of asymmetric allosterism
• Efficiency of molecular machines with continuous phase space
• Thermodynamic cost and benefit of memory
• Thermodynamic cost of external control
• Mutual Entropy-Production and Sensing in Bipartite Systems
• Information engine in a nonequilibrium bath
• Irreversibility in active matter: General framework for active Ornstein-Uhlenbeck particles
• Energy and information flows in autonomous systems
• A minimal model of an autonomous thermal motor
• Szilard engines and information-based work extraction for active systems
• Information thermodynamics for interacting stochastic systems without bipartite structure
• Characterizing autonomous Maxwell demons
• Information flow, Gating, and Energetics in dimeric molecular motors
• Nonequilibrium Energy Transduction in Stochastic Strongly Coupled Rotary Motors
• Inferring Subsystem Efficiencies in Bipartite Molecular Machines
• Internal energy and information flows mediate input and output power in bipartite molecular machines
• Energetic cost of feedback control
• Efficiency fluctuations in cyclic machines
• Free-energy transduction within autonomous systems
• Partially Observable Szilard Engines

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Flow of Energy and Information in Molecular Machines
• A Minimal Model for Carnot Efficiency at Maximum Power
• Information Arbitrage in Bipartite Heat Engines
• Markovian description of a wide class of feedback-controlled systems: Application to the feedback flashing ratchet
• Synchronization of thermodynamically consistent stochastic phase oscillators