Comparing Chemical Reaction Networks: A Categorical and Algorithmic Perspective

We study chemical reaction networks (CRNs) as a kernel language for concurrency models with semantics based on ordinary differential equations. We investigate the problem of comparing two CRNs, i.e., to decide whether the trajectories of a source CRN can be matched by a target CRN under an appropriate choice of initial conditions. Using a categorical framework, we extend and relate model-comparison approaches based on structural (syntactic) and on dynamical (semantic) properties of a CRN, proving their equivalence. Then, we provide an algorithm to compare CRNs, running linearly in time with respect to the cardinality of all possible comparisons. Finally, we apply our results to biological models from the literature.