Filippov solutions in the analysis of piecewise linear models describing gene regulatory networks (Q611195)

A piecewise linear differential system describing gene regulatory networks is considered. The dynamics is governed by so-called ``sigmoids'' (i.e., smooth monotone functions assuming the values between \(0\) and \(1\) and rapidly increasing around the threshold). This mathematical model is studied using the concept of Filippov solution and, therefore, by replacing a discontinuous differential equation with a differential inclusion. The authors introduce three different ways to define Filippov solutions and it is proved that two of the definitions are equivalent in the case of the system studied, while the third provides another nonconvex differential inclusion which gives a different set of stationary solutions. A global existence result is obtained and the continuous dependence on parameters of the Filippov solutions of the problem is considered. At the same time, the uniqueness of Filippov solutions in the set of discontinuity points of the right-hand side is studied. Two different approaches to identify stationary points for the problem under consideration are compared. The results are illustrated by several examples.