A parallel, adaptive finite element scheme for modeling chemotactic biological systems

This paper considers the numerical approximation of complex spatial patterns and rapidly evolving transients in chemotactic biological systems using parallel adaptive multiscale schemes and algorithms. Transport processes in such biological systems are typically modeled by coupled systems of nonlinear reaction–diffusion equations. For example, a model of this form has been proposed for studying chemotaxis in bacteria colonies. In the present study, we develop a variational formulation for this model leading to an approximate finite element scheme with adaptive time stepping and local adaptive mesh refinement/coarsening algorithms. The parallel adaptive solution algorithm is presented in detail and applied to investigate the effect of chemotaxis in spot formation behind concentric advancing concentrations fronts. Numerical results concerning the accuracy, efficiency, and performance of the algorithm are also presented. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.