A glimpse into mathematical modelling (Q2880094)

This very nicely written paper is the enlarged version of a four-hour seminar talk given by Professor Jacovkis during the Second Congress on Applied, Computational and Industrial Mathematics held in Rosario, Argentina, during December 14--16, 2009. The author provides an overview of several fundamental steps in mathematical modeling including formulation of a model, calibration of parameters, analysis of initial and boundary conditions and sensitivity issues. A number of important mathematical models are discussed: ordinary differential equations, delay differential equations, and difference equations arising in population dynamics, partial differential equations that model traffic problems and dynamics of shallow water.