2.I.6E

Mathematical Biology
Part II, 2005

Consider a system with stochastic reaction events

xλx+1 and xβx2x2,x \stackrel{\lambda}{\longrightarrow} x+1 \quad \text { and } \quad x \stackrel{\beta x^{2}}{\longrightarrow} x-2,

where λ\lambda and β\beta are rate constants.

(a) State or derive the exact differential equation satisfied by the average number of molecules <x><x>. Assuming that fluctuations are negligible, approximate the differential equation to obtain the steady-state value of x\langle x\rangle.

(b) Using this approximation, calculate the elasticity HH, the average lifetime τ\tau, and the average chemical event size <r><r> (averaged over fluxes).

(c) State the stationary Fluctuation Dissipation Theorem for the normalised variance η\eta. Hence show that

η=34<x>.\eta=\frac{3}{4<x>} .