Stochastic and deterministic models of spur kinetics. Initial distributions and comparisons

Abstract

The effects of generating radicals in positions in which they can react without diffusion is examined for spherical Gaussian spurs. It is shown that the resulting distribution, after allowing for zero-time reaction, is non-Gaussian and that a significant depletion can occur at the spur centre for large radical densities. These modified distributions are included in a numerical diffusion model; this is then compared with a stochastic model based on the independent evolution of pair distances, which was recently shown to provide a realistic description of the spur kinetics. The deterministic model is shown to be inadequate, although the agreement improves as the initial number of radicals increases.