A “Type Model” and its Behavior: Partial and Loose-Knit Mutual Entrainment

Abstract

In the equations of the preceding chapter, several quantitative characteristics of the pacemaker system have been left unspecified, being represented only by symbols which were referred to as “parameters”. The equations therefore define an entire class of models. In order to examine the behavior of any particular model of this class, numerical values must be assigned to the parameters. In this chapter, detailed attention will be focused upon the performance of what I refer to as the “type model”, comparable in principle with the “type specimen” of a taxonomist: a particular, representative instance of the class of models, characterized by a specific set of parameter values. In subsequent chapters, variations in performance will be examined, which arise when the parameters are assigned values which depart from those of the type model, so as to convey an impression of the diversity of models which are members of the same class.