On the dynamical realization of \((\mathbf M, \mathbf R)\)-systems (Q2562136)

In a previous work [Bull. Math. Biophys. 33, 303--319 (1971; Zbl 0223.92010)] we reviewed the theory of the class of abstract cellular models which we termed \((\mathbf M, \mathbf R)\)-systems, and discussed the various attempts which had been made to bring the \((\mathbf M, \mathbf R)\)-system formalism into the kind of dynamical framework which is characteristic of the traditional models of mathematical biology. In the present paper, we sketch a new approach to the dynamical realization of the \((\mathbf M, \mathbf R)\)-systems, which has a variety of advantages over those previously discussed. The most salient advantage, perhaps, is that it allows us to construct a set of internal state variables which are meaningful for the individual states of the realizations, instead of merely mimicking the state variable notation, as was the case with our representation of \((\mathbf M, \mathbf R)\)-systems as abstract sequential machines. Furthermore, it allows of a variety of purely mathematical realizations of any particular \((\mathbf M, \mathbf R)\)-system, each of which can then be studied further with regard to its physical realizability. Indeed, the formalism gets very close to the kinds of systems which actually manifest themselves in more conventional biological modelling. The basic idea is to represent the various mappings which occur in the abstract theory of \((\mathbf M, \mathbf R)\)-systems as dynamical processes. We give a general method for representing individual mappings, and set of mappings, in dynamical terms, and use these dynamics for the further study of our previous results regarding \((\mathbf M, \mathbf R)\)-systems.