Novel predator-prey model admitting exact analytical solution

Abstract

The Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model still represents the paradigm for the description of the competition in population dynamics. Despite its extreme simplicity, it does not admit an analytical solution, and for this reason, numerical integration methods are usually adopted to apply it to various fields of science. The aim of the present work is to investigate the existence of new predatorprey models sharing the broad features of the standard Lotka-Volterra model and, at the same time, offer the advantage of possessing exact analytical solutions. To this purpose, a general Hamiltonian formalism, which is suitable for treating a large class of predator-prey models in population dynamics within the same framework, has been developed as a first step. The only existing model having the property of admitting a simple exact analytical solution, is identified within the above class of models. The solution of this special predator-prey model is obtained explicitly, in terms of known elementary functions, and its main properties are studied. Finally, the generalization of this model, based on the concept of power-law competition, as well as its extension to the case of N -component competition systems, are considered.