Methods Of Small Parameter In Mathematical Biology

This monograph presents new tools for modeling multiscale biological processes. Natural processes are usually driven by mechanisms widely differing from each other in the time or space scale at which they operate and thus should be described by appropriate multiscale models. However, looking at all such scales simultaneously is often infeasible, costly, and provides information that is redundant for a particular application. Hence, there has been a growing interest in providing a more focused description of multiscale processes by aggregating variables in a way that is relevant to the purpose at hand and preserves the salient features of the dynamics. Many ad hoc methods have been devised, and the aim of this book is to present a systematic way of deriving the so-called limit equations for such aggregated variables and ensuring that the coefficients of these equations encapsulate the relevant information from the discarded levels of description. Since any approximation is only valid if an estimate of the incurred error is available, the tools the authors describe allow for proving that the solutions to the original multiscale family of equations converge to the solution of the limit equation if the relevant parameter converges to its critical value. The chapters are arranged according to the mathematical complexity of the analysis, from systems of ordinary linear differential equations, through nonlinear ordinary differential equations, to linear and nonlinear partial differential equations. Many chapters begin with a survey of mathematical techniques needed for the analysis. All problems discussed in this book belong to the class of singularly perturbed problems; that is, problems in which the structure of the limit equation is significantly different from that of the multiscale model. Such problems appear in all areas of science and can be attacked using many techniques. Methods of Small Parameter in Mathematical Biology will appeal to senior undergraduate and graduate students in applied and biomathematics, as well as researchers specializing in differential equations and asymptotic analysis.

Mathematical Modeling in Biology: A Research Methods Approach is a textbook written primarily for advanced mathematics and science undergraduate students and graduate-level biology students. Although the applications center on ecology, the expertise of the authors, the methodology can be imported to any other science, including social science and economics. The aim of the book, beyond being a useful aid to teaching and learning the core modeling skills needed for mathematical biology, is to encourage students to think deeply and clearly about the meaning of mathematics in science and to learn significant research methods. Most importantly, it is hoped that students will experience some of the excitement of doing research. Features Minimal pre-requisites beyond a solid background in calculus, such as a calculus I course. Suitable for upper division mathematics and sciences students and graduate-level biology students. Provides sample MATLAB codes and instruction in Appendices along with datasets available on https://bit.ly/3fcLF3D

A one-of-a-kind guide to using deterministic and probabilistic methods for solving problems in the biological sciences Highlighting the growing relevance of quantitative techniques in scientific research, Mathematical Methods in Biology provides an accessible presentation of the broad range of important mathematical methods for solving problems in the biological sciences. The book reveals the growing connections between mathematics and biology through clear explanations and specific, interesting problems from areas such as population dynamics, foraging theory, and life history theory. The authors begin with an introduction and review of mathematical tools that are employed in subsequent chapters, including biological modeling, calculus, differential equations, dimensionless variables, and descriptive statistics. The following chapters examine standard discrete and continuous models using matrix algebra as well as difference and differential equations. Finally, the book outlines probability, statistics, and stochastic methods as well as material on bootstrapping and stochastic differential equations, which is a unique approach that is not offered in other literature on the topic. In order to demonstrate the application of mathematical methods to the biological sciences, the authors provide focused examples from the field of theoretical ecology, which serve as an accessible context for study while also demonstrating mathematical skills that are applicable to many other areas in the life sciences. The book's algorithms are illustrated using MATLAB®, but can also be replicated using other software packages, including R, Mathematica®, and Maple; however, the text does not require any single computer algebra package. Each chapter contains numerous exercises and problems that range in difficulty, from the basic to more challenging, to assist readers with building their problem-solving skills. Selected solutions are included at the back of the book, and a related Web site features supplemental material for further study. Extensively class-tested to ensure an easy-to-follow format, Mathematical Methods in Biology is an excellent book for mathematics and biology courses at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It also serves as a valuable reference for researchers and professionals working in the fields of biology, ecology, and biomathematics.

An introduction to mathematical methods used in the study of population phenomena including models of total population and population age structure, models of random population events presented in terms of Markov chains, and methods used to uncover qualitative behavior of more complicated difference equations.

Speaking directly to the growing importance of research experience in undergraduate mathematics programs, this volume offers suggestions for undergraduate-appropriate research projects in mathematical and computational biology for students and their faculty mentors. The aim of each chapter is twofold: for faculty, to alleviate the challenges of identifying accessible topics and advising students through the research process; for students, to provide sufficient background, additional references, and context to excite students in these areas and to enable them to successfully undertake these problems in their research. Some of the topics discussed include: • Oscillatory behaviors present in real-world applications, from seasonal outbreaks of childhood diseases to action potentials in neurons • Simulating bacterial growth, competition, and resistance with agent-based models and laboratory experiments • Network structure and the dynamics of biological systems • Using neural networks to identify bird species from birdsong samples • Modeling fluid flow induced by the motion of pulmonary cilia Aimed at undergraduate mathematics faculty and advanced undergraduate students, this unique guide will be a valuable resource for generating fruitful research collaborations between students and faculty.

This monograph aims to lay the groundwork for the design of a unified mathematical approach to the modeling and analysis of large, complex systems composed of interacting living things. Drawing on twenty years of research in various scientific fields, it explores how mathematical kinetic theory and evolutionary game theory can be used to understand the complex interplay between mathematical sciences and the dynamics of living systems. The authors hope this will contribute to the development of new tools and strategies, if not a new mathematical theory. The first chapter discusses the main features of living systems and outlines a strategy for their modeling. The following chapters then explore some of the methods needed to potentially achieve this in practice. Chapter Two provides a brief introduction to the mathematical kinetic theory of classical particles, with special emphasis on the Boltzmann equation; the Enskog equation, mean field models, and Monte Carlo methods are also briefly covered. Chapter Three uses concepts from evolutionary game theory to derive mathematical structures that are able to capture the complexity features of interactions within living systems. The book then shifts to exploring the relevant applications of these methods that can potentially be used to derive specific, usable models. The modeling of social systems in various contexts is the subject of Chapter Five, and an overview of modeling crowd dynamics is given in Chapter Six, demonstrating how this approach can be used to model the dynamics of multicellular systems. The final chapter considers some additional applications before presenting an overview of open problems. The authors then offer their own speculations on the conceptual paths that may lead to a mathematical theory of living systems hoping to motivate future research activity in the field. A truly unique contribution to the existing literature, A Quest Toward a Mathematical Theory of Living Systems is an important book that will no doubt have a significant influence on the future directions of the field. It will be of interest to mathematical biologists, systems biologists, biophysicists, and other researchers working on understanding the complexities of living systems.

This MPDI book comprises a number of selected contributions to a Special Issue devoted to the modeling and simulation of living systems based on developments in kinetic mathematical tools. The focus is on a fascinating research field which cannot be tackled by the approach of the so-called hard sciences—specifically mathematics—without the invention of new methods in view of a new mathematical theory. The contents proposed by eight contributions witness the growing interest of scientists this field. The first contribution is an editorial paper which presents the motivations for studying the mathematics and physics of living systems within the framework an interdisciplinary approach, where mathematics and physics interact with specific fields of the class of systems object of modeling and simulations. The different contributions refer to economy, collective learning, cell motion, vehicular traffic, crowd dynamics, and social swarms. The key problem towards modeling consists in capturing the complexity features of living systems. All articles refer to large systems of interaction living entities and follow, towards modeling, a common rationale which consists firstly in representing the system by a probability distribution over the microscopic state of the said entities, secondly, in deriving a general mathematical structure deemed to provide the conceptual basis for the derivation of models and, finally, in implementing the said structure by models of interactions at the microscopic scale. Therefore, the modeling approach transfers the dynamics at the low scale to collective behaviors. Interactions are modeled by theoretical tools of stochastic game theory. Overall, the interested reader will find, in the contents, a forward look comprising various research perspectives and issues, followed by hints on to tackle these.

This proceedings volume features selected contributions from the conference Positivity X. The field of positivity deals with ordered mathematical structures and their applications. At the biannual series of Positivity conferences, the latest developments in this diverse field are presented. The 2019 edition was no different, with lectures covering a broad spectrum of topics, including vector and Banach lattices and operators on such spaces, abstract stochastic processes in an ordered setting, the theory and applications of positive semi-groups to partial differential equations, Hilbert geometries, positivity in Banach algebras and, in particular, operator algebras, as well as applications to mathematical economics and financial mathematics. The contributions in this book reflect the variety of topics discussed at the conference. They will be of interest to researchers in functional analysis, operator theory, measure and integration theory, operator algebras, and economics. Positivity X was dedicated to the memory of our late colleague and friend, Coenraad Labuschagne. His untimely death in 2018 came as an enormous shock to the Positivity community. He was a prominent figure in the Positivity community and was at the forefront of the recent development of abstract stochastic processes in a vector lattice context.