Abstract

High dimensional Leslie matrix models have long been viewed as discretizations of McKendrick PDE models. However, these two fundamental classes of models can be linked in a completely different way. For populations with periodic birth pulses, Leslie models of any dimension can be viewed as "stroboscopic snapshots" (in time) of an associated impulsive McKendrick model; that is, the solution of the discrete model matches the solution of the corresponding continuous model at every discrete time step. In application, McKendrick models of populations with birth pulses can be used to identify the state of the population between the discrete census times of the associated Leslie model. Furthermore, McKendrick models describing populations with near-synchronous birth pulses can be viewed as realistic perturbations of the associated Leslie model.