High order discretization methods for spatial-dependent epidemic models

Abstract

In this paper, an epidemic model with spatial dependence is studied and results regarding its stability and numerical approximation are presented. We consider a generalization of the original Kermack and McKendrick model in which the size of the populations differs in space. The use of local spatial dependence yields a system of partial-differential equations with integral terms. The uniqueness and qualitative properties of the continuous model are analyzed. Furthermore, different spatial and temporal discretizations are employed, and step-size restrictions for the discrete model’s positivity, monotonicity preservation, and population conservation are investigated. We provide sufficient conditions under which high-order numerical schemes preserve the stability of the computational process and provide sufficiently accurate numerical approximations. Computational experiments verify the convergence and accuracy of the numerical methods.