Numerical solution to a nonlinear McKendrick-Von Foerster equation with diffusion (Q2679813)

The McKendrick-Von Foerster equation with diffusion (M-V-D) arises in modeling of neuronal networks and thermoelasticity. Nonlocal equations are studied by several authors, and relatively less attention was paid to problems with the Robin boundary conditions In this paper, the M-V-D with nonlinear nonlocal Robin boundary conditions is studied numerically. The M-V-D is approximated using an implicit finite difference scheme. Because the analysis of the long-time behavior of the solutions to M-V-DE requires the study of its steady state problem, a similar nonlinear finite difference scheme is constructed for steady state. To solve this system of equations, a linear monotone iterative scheme is introduced. Moreover, it is proven that the numerical solution to M-V-D converges to that of its steady state as time tends to infinity. Numerical examples are presented to revalidate the theoretical results.