On the Equivalence of Instantaneous and Mechanistic Reproduction Numbers

Abstract

The effective reproduction number ($R_t$) is widely used to track epidemic dynamics in real time. The standard estimation framework uses "instantaneous $R_t$," defined via the renewal equation, which relates new infections to past infections through a generation interval distribution. Compartmental models like SEIR yield a seemingly distinct quantity, "mechanistic $R_t$," based on the effective contact rate and duration of infectiousness. We prove these two definitions are equivalent under homogeneous mixing, the standard assumption in compartmental modeling. We also derive the generation interval distribution implied by SEIR dynamics. A practical consequence is that generation intervals, often treated as assumption-light inputs to renewal equation estimators, in fact encode specific compartmental structure.