Existence and uniqueness of periodic orbits in the cubic autocatalator

Abstract

Periodic orbits are sought in a mathematical model of a simple prototype chemical reaction involving essentially only two reacting species. Physically, these periodic orbits correspond to time-periodic oscillations in the concentrations of the two chemicals. Using the results for the existence and uniqueness of periodic orbits for Lienard systems, necessary and sufficient conditions are obtained for the existence of exactly one periodic orbit and of no periodic orbits. The results apply to a closed system where the quadratic autocatalytic reaction and decay step are present but the uncatalysed reaction is not and where there is only one physically relevant equilibrium solution