The nature of Hopf bifurcation for the Gompertz model with delays

In this paper, we study the influence of time delays on the dynamics of the classical Gompertz model. We consider the models with one discrete delay introduced in two different ways and the model with two delays which generalise those with one delay. We study asymptotic behaviour and bifurcations with respect to the ratio of delays τ̄ = τ1/τ2. Our results show that in such model with two delays there is only one stability switch and for a threshold value of bifurcation parameter, Hopf bifurcation (HB) occurs. However, the type of HB, and therefore its stability (i.e. stability of periodic orbits arising due to it), strongly depends on the magnitude of τ̄ . The function describing stability of HB is periodic with respect to τ̄ . Within one period of length 4 five changes of HB stability are observed. We also introduce the second model with two delays which has a better biological interpretation than the first one. In that model several stability switches can occur, depending on the model parameters. We illustrate analytical results on the example of tumour growth model with parameters estimated on the basis of experimental data. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.