In a situation where each player has control over the transition probabilities of each subsystem, we game-theoretically analyze the optimization problem of minimizing both the partial entropy production of each subsystem and a penalty for failing to achieve a given state transition. In the regime of linear irreversible thermodynamics, we obtain the Nash equilibrium solution of the probability flow and calculate each partial entropy production for this solution. We find a trade-off such that a partial entropy production should be larger if we want the other partial entropy production to be smaller. The total entropy production can be minimized if each subsystem equally shares the penalty. We identify that this trade-off is due to the interacting contribution of the probability flow and discuss a possible biological validity for Escherichia coli chemotaxis.

• Received 28 December 2021
• Accepted 20 November 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.013023

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society