Mean-field approximation to a spatial host-pathogen model

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2003 Apr;67(4 Pt 2):047102. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.67.047102. Epub 2003 Apr 24.

Abstract

We study the mean-field approximation to a simple spatial host-pathogen model that has been shown to display interesting evolutionary properties. We show that previous derivations of the mean-field equations for this model are actually only low-density approximations to the true mean-field limit. We derive the correct equations and the corresponding equations including pair correlations. The process of invasion by a mutant type of pathogen is also discussed.