A graph-theoretic approach to the method of global Lyapunov functions

A class of global Lyapunov functions is revisited and used to resolve a long-standing open problem on the uniqueness and global stability of the endemic equilibrium of a class of multi-group models in mathematical epidemiology. We show how the group structure of the models, as manifested in the derivatives of the Lyapunov function, can be completely described using graph theory.