Fractional Order Compartment Models

Abstract

Compartment models have been used to describe the time evolution of a system undergoing reactions between populations in different compartments. The governing equations are a set of coupled ordinary differential equations. In recent years fractional order derivatives have been introduced in compartment models in an ad hoc way, replacing ordinary derivatives with fractional derivatives. This has been motivated by the utility of fractional derivatives in incorporating history effects, but the ad hoc inclusion can be problematic for flux balance. To overcome these problems we have derived fractional order compartment models from an underlying physical stochastic process. In general, our fractional compartment models differ from ad hoc fractional models and our derivation ensures that the fractional derivatives have a physical basis in our models. Some illustrative examples, drawn from epidemiology, pharmacokinetics, and in-host virus dynamics, are provided.