Chemical organizations at different spatial scales

Abstract

The dynamics of spatial reaction systems that consists of many molecular species can be difficult to understand. Here we introduce a method that allows to observe the dynamics of a diverse spatial reaction system at different spatial scales. Using chemical organization theory we define for a given spatial location its so called spatial organization, which is the organization generated by the molecular species present in the neighborhood of this location. The scale determines the size of that neighborhood. We show that at one scale, patterns become visible that can not be seen at a different scale. Furthermore, different scales tend to map to different parts of the lattice of organizations; at small scales spatial organizations tend to be small (lower part of the lattice of organizations) while at large scales spatial organizations tend to be large (upper part of the lattice of organizations). Finally we show how the right scale can be selected by comparing the spatial reactor with its well-stirred counterpart. The method is illustrated using an artificial chemistry. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.