Publications by Shiling Liang | EPFL Graph Search

Stochastic thermodynamics for biological functions

Living systems operate within physical constraints imposed by nonequilibrium thermodynamics. This review explores recent advancements in applying these principles to understand the fundamental limits of biological functions. We introduce the framework of s ...

WILEY2025

Minimal Model for Carnot Efficiency at Maximum Power

Paolo De Los Rios, Shiling Liang

Carnot efficiency sets a fundamental upper bound on the heat engine efficiency, attainable in the quasistatic limit, albeit at the cost of completely sacrificing power output. Here, we present a minimal heat engine model that can attain Carnot efficiency w ...

2025

Thermodynamic Bounds on Symmetry Breaking in Linear and Catalytic Biochemical Systems

Paolo De Los Rios, Shiling Liang

Living systems are maintained out of equilibrium by external driving forces. At stationarity, they exhibit emergent selection phenomena that break equilibrium symmetries and originate from the expansion of the accessible chemical space due to nonequilibriu ...

2024

Fundamental Thermodynamic Constraints on Symmetry Breaking in Biochemical Systems

Shiling Liang

Living systems operate far from thermodynamic equilibrium, and understanding the fundamental constraints imposed by thermodynamic laws is crucial for unraveling the principles that govern life. This thesis investigates thermodynamic constraints on symmetry ...

EPFL2024

Thermodynamic bounds on time-reversal asymmetry

Shiling Liang

Quantifying irreversibility of a system using finite information constitutes a major challenge in stochastic thermodynamics. We introduce an observable that measures the time-reversal asymmetry between two states after a given time lag. Our central result ...

Amer Physical Soc2023

Emergent thermophoretic behavior in chemical reaction systems

Paolo De Los Rios, Shiling Liang, Daniel Maria Busiello

Exposing a solution to a temperature gradient can lead to the accumulation of particles on either the cold or warm side. This phenomenon is known as thermophoresis, and its microscopic origin is still debated. Here, we show that thermophoresis can be obser ...

IOP Publishing Ltd2022

Dissipation-driven selection of states in non-equilibrium chemical networks

Paolo De Los Rios, Shiling Liang, Francesco Piazza, Daniel Maria Busiello

Life has most likely originated as a consequence of processes taking place in non-equilibrium conditions (e.g. in the proximity of deep-sea thermal vents) selecting states of matter that would have been otherwise unfavorable at equilibrium. Here we present ...

2021

Bidirectional propagation of low frequency oscillations over the human hippocampal surface

Paolo De Los Rios, Shiling Liang, Daniel Maria Busiello

The hippocampus is diversely interconnected with other brain systems along its axis. Cycles of theta-frequency activity are believed to propagate from the septal to temporal pole, yet it is unclear how this one-way route supports the flexible cognitive cap ...

Nature Research2021

Equilibrium and non-equilibrium furanose selection in the ribose isomerisation network

Paolo De Los Rios, Shiling Liang, Francesco Piazza, Daniel Maria Busiello

The exclusive presence of beta -D-ribofuranose in nucleic acids is still a conundrum in prebiotic chemistry, given that pyranose species are substantially more stable at equilibrium. However, a precise characterisation of the relative furanose/pyranose fra ...

Nature Research2021

Dissipation-Driven Selection under Finite Diffusion: Hints from Equilibrium and Separation of Time Scales

Paolo De Los Rios, Shiling Liang, Daniel Maria Busiello

When exposed to a thermal gradient, reaction networks can convert thermal energy into the chemical selection of states that would be unfavourable at equilibrium. The kinetics of reaction paths, and thus how fast they dissipate available energy, might be do ...

MDPI2021