A matrix model of population growth (Q1102893)

Matrices are frequently used in all the biological fields as organizers of numerical information since they greatly increase the ease and efficiency of analyzing data. One of the most common uses of matrix algebra in the biological sciences is in the area of population dynamics where matrix models have been used to simulate population growth since the early 1940s. In this module we will describe the matrix methods developed by \textit{P. H. Leslie} [Biometrika 33, 183-212 (1945; Zbl 0060.318) and ibid. 35, 213-245 (1948; Zbl 0034.233)] and \textit{E. G. Lewis} [Sankya 6, 93-96 (1942)] to describe age-dependent population growth. We will be particularly interested in determining whether a population is increasing without bound, stable or dying out.