Non-meanfield deterministic limits in chemical reaction kinetics

A general mechanism is proposed by which small intrinsic fluctuations in a system far from equilibrium can result in nearly deterministic dynamical behaviors which are markedly distinct from those realized in the meanfield limit. The mechanism is demonstrated for the kinetic Monte Carlo version of the Schnakenberg reaction where we identified a scaling limit in which the global deterministic bifurcation picture is fundamentally altered by fluctuations. Numerical simulations of the model are found to be in quantitative agreement with theoretical predictions. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.