A FINITE-DIMENSIONAL DYNAMICAL MODEL FOR GELATION IN COAGULATION PROCESSES

We study a finite-dimensional system of ordinary differential equation s derived from Smoluchowski's coagulation equations and whose solution s mimic the behaviour of the nondensity-conserving (geling) solutions in those equations. The analytic and numerical studies of the finite-d imensional system reveals an interesting dynamic behaviour in several respects: Firstly, it suggests that some special geling solutions to S moluchowski's equations discovered by Leyvraz can have an important dy namic role in gelation studies, and, secondly, the dynamics is interes ting in its own right with an attractor possessing an unexpected struc ture of equilibria and connecting orbits.