English

Microscopic models for the large-scale spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus: A Statistical Mechanics approach

Populations and Evolution 2024-02-09 v1 Physics and Society

Abstract

In this work, we derive a system of Boltzmann-type equations to describe the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus at the microscopic scale, that is by modeling the human-to-human mechanisms of transmission. To this end, we consider two populations, characterized by specific distribution functions, made up of individuals without symptoms (population 11) and infected people with symptoms (population 22). The Boltzmann operators model the interactions between individuals within the same population and among different populations with a probability of transition from one to the other due to contagion or, vice versa, to recovery. In addition, the influence of innate and adaptive immune systems is taken into account. Then, starting from the Boltzmann microscopic description we derive a set of evolution equations for the size and mean state of each population considered. Mathematical properties of such macroscopic equations, as equilibria and their stability, are investigated and some numerical simulations are performed in order to analyze the ability of our model to reproduce the characteristic features of Covid-19.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2402.05826,
  title  = {Microscopic models for the large-scale spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus: A Statistical Mechanics approach},
  author = {Marzia Bisi and Silvia Lorenzani},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2402.05826},
  year   = {2024}
}