Galerkin methods for a model of population dynamics with nonlinear diffusion

A numerical method is proposed to approximate the solution of a nonlinear and nonlocal system of integro-differential equations describing age-dependent population dynamics with spatial diffusion. We use a finite difference method along the characteristic age-time direction combined with finite elements in the spatial variable. Optimal order error estimates are derived for this approximation. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.