Article révisé par les pairs
Résumé : The results of the nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation formalism, which was recently derived as an asymptotic representation of the Master Equation for large system size, are compared with the exact solution of the Master Equation for the Schlögl model. As far as critical behaviour is concerned complete agreement is found. Furthermore at the first order transition points the nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation is shown to constitute an excellent approximation. © 1977 Springer-Verlag.