Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-further-mathematical-biology-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2023/1/b/solution
Past exam of the further mathematical biology course of the University of Oxford 2023 1 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
The unit integrals of the profiles make the phase populations, and their normalized cell-cycle age densities. Assume the age tails vanish and the following integrals are finite. For a fixed profile define its mean exit hazard function byThese constants have units of inverse time. Integrating the age-structured population equations and using the boundary conditions givesThe incoming fluxes are and , soThe separable-profile closure for an age-structured population has a qualification: arbitrary age-dependent hazard functions do not give this constant-coefficient ordinary differential equation for arbitrary initial conditions. Without fixed , the effective exit rates are and can vary with time. Moreover, an exact positive separation of variables with both profiles fixed forces to be constant through the incoming fluxes, hence selects a common exponential mode. The displayed ordinary differential equation is the necessary integrated system for such profiles; it is also exact for arbitrary populations when both hazard functions are age independent.
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