Raphaël Plasson

Raphaël Plasson analyzed autocatalysis with collaborators, distinguishing mechanisms that produce superficially similar self-accelerating behaviour. Their study compared chemical mechanisms, kinetic equations and dynamical patterns rather than defining every increasing reaction rate as autocatalytic.^[ref]

For the idealized reaction $A+B\to 2B$, law of mass action gives $\dot{b}=kab$; with conserved $a+b=c$, this becomes $\dot{b}=kb(c-b)$. The product promotes its own formation, but substrate depletion limits indefinite exponential growth. The kinetic assumptions and uncatalyzed background pathway matter when identifying an experimental autocatalytic effect.