A Mathematical Model of the Chemostat with Periodic Washout Rate
In its simplest form, the chemostat consists of several populations of microorganisms competing for a single limiting nutrient. If the input concentration of nutrient and the washout rate are constant, theory predicts and experiment confirms that at most one of the populations will survive. In natur...
Saved in:
Published in | SIAM journal on applied mathematics Vol. 45; no. 3; pp. 435 - 449 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Philadelphia, PA
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
01.06.1985
|
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | In its simplest form, the chemostat consists of several populations of microorganisms competing for a single limiting nutrient. If the input concentration of nutrient and the washout rate are constant, theory predicts and experiment confirms that at most one of the populations will survive. In nature, however, one may expect the input concentration and washout rate to vary with time. In this paper we consider a model for the chemostat with periodic washout rate. Conditions are found for competitive exclusion to hold, and bifurcation techniques are employed to show that under suitable circumstances there will be coexistence of the competing populations in the form of positive periodic solutions. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 0036-1399 1095-712X |
DOI: | 10.1137/0145025 |