Maths

Reaction-Diffusion

The system of PDEs that we simulate in each compartment is the three-dimensional reaction-diffusion equation:

\[\frac{\partial c_s}{\partial t} = D_s \left( \frac{\partial^2}{\partial x^2} + \frac{\partial^2}{\partial y^2} + \frac{\partial^2}{\partial z^2} \right) c_s + R_s\]

where

  • \(c_s\) is the concentration of species \(s\) at position \((x, y, z)\) and time \(t\)

  • \(D_s\) is the diffusion constant for species \(s\)

  • \(R_s\) is the reaction term for species \(s\)

and we assume that

  • the diffusion constant \(D_s\) is a scalar that does not vary with position or time

  • the reaction term \(R_s\) is a function that can depend on the concentrations of other species in the model, but only locally, i.e. the concentrations at the same spatial coordinate.

Compartment Reactions

Compartment reaction terms correspond to the \(R_s\) term in the reaction-diffusion equation, and describe the rate of change of species concentration with time. They are evaluated at every point inside the compartment

Membrane reactions

Membrane reactions are reactions that occur on the membrane between two compartments, and describe the species amount that crosses the membrane per unit membrane area per unit time.

Boundary Conditions

All boundaries have “zero-flux” Neumann boundary conditions, whether they are boundaries between two compartments or boundaries between a compartment and the outside (except for the flux caused by any membrane reactions).