Reaction Kinetics in a Tight Spot

TL;DR

This paper addresses the limitations of deterministic reaction rate equations in confined geometries by emphasizing the importance of full reactant number distributions to accurately model reaction kinetics in small systems.

Contribution

It introduces a framework that accounts for stochastic effects and full reactant number distributions in reaction kinetics within confined systems.

Findings

Deterministic models fail in small, confined systems.

Full distribution analysis captures anomalous reaction behaviors.

The approach improves understanding of reaction dynamics in nano-scale environments.

Abstract

The standard analysis of reaction networks based on deterministic rate equations fails in confined geometries, commonly encountered in fields such as astrochemistry, thin film growth and cell biology. In these systems the small reactant population implies anomalous behavior of reaction rates, which can be accounted for only by following the full distribution of reactant numbers.