Computational Modelling Group

Seminar  6th November 2012 noon  54/7033

Hybrid Modelling of Reaction, Diffusion and Taxis Processes in Biology

Radek Erban
Oxford

Web page
http://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/erban/
Categories
Complex Systems
Submitter
Luke Goater

Hybrid Modelling of Reaction, Diffusion and Taxis Processes in Biology

I will discuss methods for spatio-temporal modelling in cellular and molecular biology. Three classes of models will be considered:

i. microscopic (molecular-based, individual-based) models which are based on the simulation of trajectories of individual molecules and their localized interactions (for example, reactions);

ii. mesoscopic (lattice-based) models which divide the computational domain into a finite number of compartments and simulate the time evolution of the numbers of molecules in each compartment; and

iii. macroscopic (deterministic) models which are written in terms of reaction-diffusion-advection PDEs for spatially varying concentrations.

In the first part of my talk, I will discuss connections between the modelling frameworks (i)-(iii). I will consider chemical reactions both at a surface and in the bulk. In the second part of my talk, I will present hybrid (multiscale) algorithms which use models with a different level of detail in different parts of the computational domain. The main goal of this multiscale methodology is to use a detailed modelling approach in localized regions of particular interest (in which accuracy and microscopic detail is important) and a less detailed model in other regions in which accuracy may be traded for simulation efficiency. I will also discuss hybrid modelling of chemotaxis where an individual-based model of cells is coupled with PDEs for extracellular chemical signals.