When do trajectories matter? Identifiability analysis for stochastic transport phenomena

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Simpson, Matthew J, Plank, Michael J
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Simpson, Matthew J
Plank, Michael J
author_facet Simpson, Matthew J
Plank, Michael J
contents Stochastic models of diffusion are routinely used to study dispersal of populations, including populations of animals, plants, seeds and cells. Advances in imaging and field measurement technologies mean that data are often collected across a range of scales, including count data collected across a series of fixed sampling regions to characterize population-level dispersal, as well as individual trajectory data to examine at the motion of individuals within a diffusive population. In this work we consider a lattice-based random walk model and examine the extent to which model parameters can be determined by collecting count data and/or trajectory data. Our analysis combines agent-based stochastic simulations, mean-field partial differential equation approximations, likelihood-based estimation, identifiability analysis, and model-based prediction. These combined tools reveal that working with count data alone can sometimes lead to challenges involving structural non-identifiability that can be alleviated by collecting trajectory data. Furthermore, these tools allow us to explore how different experimental designs impact inferential precision by comparing how different trajectory data collection protocols affects practical identifiability. Open source implementations of all algorithms used in this work are available on GitHub.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_15598
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle When do trajectories matter? Identifiability analysis for stochastic transport phenomena
Simpson, Matthew J
Plank, Michael J
Cellular Automata and Lattice Gases
Quantitative Methods
Applications
92Bxx 62Mxx 62M30
Stochastic models of diffusion are routinely used to study dispersal of populations, including populations of animals, plants, seeds and cells. Advances in imaging and field measurement technologies mean that data are often collected across a range of scales, including count data collected across a series of fixed sampling regions to characterize population-level dispersal, as well as individual trajectory data to examine at the motion of individuals within a diffusive population. In this work we consider a lattice-based random walk model and examine the extent to which model parameters can be determined by collecting count data and/or trajectory data. Our analysis combines agent-based stochastic simulations, mean-field partial differential equation approximations, likelihood-based estimation, identifiability analysis, and model-based prediction. These combined tools reveal that working with count data alone can sometimes lead to challenges involving structural non-identifiability that can be alleviated by collecting trajectory data. Furthermore, these tools allow us to explore how different experimental designs impact inferential precision by comparing how different trajectory data collection protocols affects practical identifiability. Open source implementations of all algorithms used in this work are available on GitHub.
title When do trajectories matter? Identifiability analysis for stochastic transport phenomena
topic Cellular Automata and Lattice Gases
Quantitative Methods
Applications
92Bxx 62Mxx 62M30
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.15598