Two reaction zones in a competing reactions system with initially separated components

Area of Science:

• Chemical kinetics
• Reaction dynamics
• Complex systems analysis

Background:

• Systems with competing reactions exhibit complex dynamics.
• Understanding long-time properties is crucial for predicting system behavior.
• The interplay between reversible and irreversible reactions influences spatial organization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the long-time properties of a system with two competing reactions: reversible A1+B<-->C1 and irreversible A2+B-->C2.
• To analyze the crossover in system dynamics from an "irreversible" to a "reversible" regime.
• To characterize the spatial distribution of reaction zones under different dynamic regimes.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of system dynamics using mean-field kinetic equations.
• Asymptotic analysis to describe "irreversible" (t<>g(-1)(1)) regimes.
• Numerical computations to validate theoretical predictions.

Main Results:

• A crossover in system dynamics is observed based on the backward constant of the reversible reaction.
• In the "irreversible" regime, both reactions occur within a single reaction zone.
• In the "reversible" regime, two distinct reaction zones emerge: one for A1+B<-->C1 and another for A2+C1-->A1+C2.

Conclusions:

• The system's long-time behavior is characterized by a transition from a single to a dual reaction zone.
• The emergence of distinct reaction zones in the "reversible" regime alters the spatial dynamics of competing reactions.
• Numerical results confirm the theoretical predictions of asymptotic behavior.