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Academic Year: | 2013/4 |
Owning Department/School: | Department of Mathematical Sciences |
Credits: | 6 |
Level: | Intermediate (FHEQ level 5) |
Period: |
Semester 2 |
Assessment: | CW 25%, EX 75% |
Supplementary Assessment: |
MA20202 Mandatory Extra Work (where allowed by programme regulations) |
Requisites: | Before taking this unit you must take MA20201 or take PH20019 |
Description: | Aims: To develop students' mathematical techniques so that they can model a range of biological systems and interpret the outcomes of the modelling. Learning Outcomes: At the end of this unit, students should be able to: * write down and analyse a range of classical mathematical models used to describe biological processes; * carry out a range of techniques in matrix algebra and understand its role in analysing biological models; * work competently with complex numbers; * make use of a computer package to simulate biological processes. Skills: Calculus and matrix algebra (T, A); use of a computer package (T, A); modelling (T, F, A). Content: First-order non-linear difference equations: cobweb diagrams, steady states, stability; biological applications, e.g. density-dependent population growth, selection in a bacterial population. Matrices and determinants: eigenvalues and eigenvectors, complex numbers; Leslie matrices, age-structured populations, host-parasitoid systems. Second-order linear ordinary differential equations. Second-order non-linear ordinary differential equations: steady states, Jacobian, phase plane analysis; prey-predator systems, competition systems. |
Programme availability: |
MA20202 is Optional on the following programmes:Department of Biology & Biochemistry
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