The minimal model of Hahn for the Calvin cycle.

There are many models of the Calvin cycle of photosynthesis in the literature. When investigating the dynamics of these models one strategy is to look at the simplest possible models in order to get the most detailed insights. We investigate a minimal model of the Calvin cycle introduced by Hahn while he was pursuing this strategy. In a variant of the model not including photorespiration it is shown that there exists exactly one positive steady state and that this steady state is unstable. For generic initial data either all concentrations tend to infinity at lates times or all concentrations tend to zero at late times. In a variant including photorespiration it is shown that for suitable v…