Differential Equations for Studies in Computational Electrophysiology

This open access book, authored by Karoline Horgmo Jæger and Aslak Tveito, aims to give readers the simplest possible introduction to differential equations used in models of electrophysiology.

The Simula SpringerBriefs on Computing book series provides introductions to select areas of research in computing that can otherwise be inaccessible. This is the 14th volume in the series and is published as part of the Reports on Computational Physiology sub-series, which has a special focus on the theories and methods employed by computational physiologists.

In Differential Equations for Studies in Computational Electrophysiology, interested readers will find a simple introduction to an increasingly complex and important field. It covers models at several spatial and temporal scales and addresses classical models of electrophysiology (e.g. the cable equation, the monodomain model, and the bidomain model) as well as modern models that have just started to gain attention in the field. The text demonstrates that a very limited number of fundamental techniques can be used to define numerical methods for equations ranging from ridiculously simple to extremely complex systems of partial differential equations. Every method is implemented in Matlab and the codes are freely available online.

According to the authors “If you just want to read one book, it should probably not be this one, but if you want a simple introduction to a complex field, it is worth considering the present text.”

Open access

As with all the Simula SpringerBriefs on Computing, this volume is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license and was published by SpringerOpen.

About the authors

Karoline Horgmo Jæger is a senior research scientist at Simula Research Laboratory. She earned her PhD from the University of Oslo in 2019 and since the start of her research career in 2015 has co-authored 20 journal papers and book chapters. Her research interests include computational physiology with emphasis on cell-based modeling of excitable tissues.

Aslak Tveito is a professor of scientific computing at the University of Oslo and is a Simula Fellow at the Simula Research Laboratory. He has co-authored four additional books and many journal papers on computational physiology. His research interests are related to the use of computational methods to understand the dynamics of collections of excitable cells.