Paper 3, Section II, 13B

Mathematical Biology | Part II, 2020

The larva of a parasitic worm disperses in one dimension while laying eggs at rate λ>0\lambda>0. The larvae die at rate μ\mu and have diffusivity DD, so that their density, n(x,t)n(x, t), obeys

nt=D2nx2μn,(D>0,μ>0)\frac{\partial n}{\partial t}=D \frac{\partial^{2} n}{\partial x^{2}}-\mu n, \quad(D>0, \mu>0)

The eggs do not diffuse, so that their density, e(x,t)e(x, t), obeys

et=λn\frac{\partial e}{\partial t}=\lambda n

At t=0t=0 there are no eggs and NN larvae concentrated at x=0x=0, so that n(x,0)=Nδ(x)n(x, 0)=N \delta(x).

(i) Determine n(x,t)n(x, t) for t>0t>0. Show that n(x,t)0n(x, t) \rightarrow 0 as tt \rightarrow \infty.

(ii) Determine the limit of e(x,t)e(x, t) as tt \rightarrow \infty.

(iii) Provide a physical explanation for the remnant density of the eggs identified in part (ii).

[You may quote without proof the results

exp(x2)dx=πexp(ikx)k2+α2dk=πexp(αx)/α,α>0\begin{aligned} \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} \exp \left(-x^{2}\right) d x &=\sqrt{\pi} \\ \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} \frac{\exp (i k x)}{k^{2}+\alpha^{2}} d k &=\pi \exp (-\alpha|x|) / \alpha, \quad \alpha>0 \end{aligned}

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