High-order finite difference WENO schemes with positivity-preserving limiter for correlated random walk with density-dependent turning rates

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss high-order finite difference weighted essentially non-oscillatory schemes, coupled with total variation diminishing (TVD) Runge–Kutta (RK) temporal integration, for solving the semilinear hyperbolic system of a correlated random walk model describing movement of animals and cells in biology. Since the solutions to this system are non-negative, we discuss a positivity-preserving limiter without compromising accuracy. Analysis is performed to justify the maintenance of third-order spatial/temporal accuracy when the limiters are applied to a third-order finite difference scheme and third-order TVD-RK time discretization for solving this model. Numerical results are also provided to demonstrate these methods up to fifth-order accuracy.