Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

We use finite difference methods in the treatment of an existing system of partial differential equations that captures the dynamics of parallel honeycomb construction in a bee hive. We conduct an uncertainty analysis by calculating the partial rank correlation coefficient for the parameters to find which are most important to the outcomes of the model. We then use an eFAST method to determine both the individual and total sensitivity index for the parameters. Afterwards we examine our numerical model under varying initial conditions and parameter values, and compare ratios found from local data with the golden mean by fitting images of the combs with ellipses and then calculating the length of the major and minor axes.

Year manuscript completed

2017

Year degree awarded

2017

Author's Keywords

finite differences, parameter estimation, honey comb construction, numerical analysis, partial differential equations

Degree Awarded

Master of Science

Department

Mathematics & Statistics

College/School

Jesse D. Jones College of Science, Engineering and Technology

Thesis Advisor

Donald Adongo

Committee Member

Maeve Lewis McCarthy

Committee Member

Manoj Pathak

Document Type

Thesis

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