An International Journal A PARTIALLY DISCRETIZED AGE-DEPENDENT POPULATION MODEL WITH AN ADDITIONAL STRUCTURE

A semi-discretization method for solving an age-dependent population dynamics model with an additional structure is proposed. This method, unlike previous ones, considers the partial discretization which reduces the model equation into a first order ordinary differential equation. The latter is then solved explicitly and conditions under which second order accuracy arises are given. While the approach adopted is basically analytical, the main result shows that the sum of errors is bounded. An extension to the non-trivial case where growth depends on the additional parameter leads to a Riccati equation, and the existence and convergence of solutions are proved. Key words: age structure, discrete scheme, population dynamics, physiology