Second-Order Catalytic Quasispecies Yields First-Order Phase Transition

The quasispecies model describes processes related to the origin of life and viral evolutionary dynamics. We discuss how the error catastrophe that reflects the transition from localized to delocalized quasispecies population is affected by catalytic replication of different reaction orders. Specifically, we find that 2nd order mechanisms lead to 1st order discontinuous phase transitions in the viable population fraction, and conclude that the "higher" the interaction the "lower" the transition. We discuss potential implications for understanding the replication of highly mutating RNA viruses.