A STOCHASTIC APPROACH TO COMPLEX CHEMICAL-REACTIONS

A stochastic simulation method is proposed which allows the efficient treatment of chemical reactions involving a large number of reactants. The reaction is regarded as a stochastic process which is described by a master equation. Interesting quantities, e.g. the time evolution of concentrations, are evaluated not by solving the master equation as an ordinary differential equation but with the help of a stochastic simulation which generates realizations of the underlying stochastic process. The practicability and flexibility of this approach is demonstrated by means of a coagulation reaction.