STOCHASTIC LATTICE-GAS MODEL FOR A PREDATOR-PREY SYSTEM

We propose a stochastic lattice gas model to describe the dynamics of two animal species populations, one being a predator and the other a p rey. This model comprehends the mechanisms of the Lotka-Volterra model . Our analysis was performed by using a dynamical mean-field approxima tion and computer simulations. Our results show that the system exhibi ts an oscillatory behavior of the population densities of prey and pre dators. For the sets of parameters used in our computer simulations, t hese oscillations occur at a local level. Mean-field results predict s ynchronized collective oscillations.