Thermodynamic origins of topological protection in nonequilibrium stochastic systems

Abstract: Topological protection has emerged as an organizing principle for understanding and engineering robust collective behavior in electronic and material systems. Recent work suggests that topology may also play a role in organizing stochastic processes relevant to biology and self-assembly. Here, we show that topological protection in chemical networks can be understood entirely in terms of nonequilibrium thermodynamics. We illustrate these ideas using simple examples inspired by the literature.