Autocatalytic Set

An AutocatalyticSet is a chain of catalyzed reactions that folds back on itself.

Suppose that A catalyzes a reaction that increases the concentration of B, which I will denote as

   A -> B

Then an AutocatalyticSet is a reaction such that:

   A -> B -> ... -> N -> A

Or

   A ->* A

Yes, I just wanted to beat the reader over the head with its sequential nature. Specifically, suppose there are two AutocatalyticSets AC1 and AC2, so that:

   AC1 = A->B->A
   AC2 = A->C->A

These are different AutocatalyticSets. I'm not sure that the more terse notation sufficiently reveals their difference.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autocatalytic_set