On the characteristic equation (Formula presented.) and its use in the context of a cell population model

Abstract

In this paper we characterize the stability boundary in the (Formula presented.) -plane, for fixed (Formula presented.) with (Formula presented.) , for the characteristic equation from the title. Subsequently we describe a nonlinear cell population model involving quiescence and show that this characteristic equation governs the (in)stability of the nontrivial steady state. By relating the parameters of the cell model to the (Formula presented.) , we are able to derive some biological conclusions.