Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 28: Statistical Physics in Biological Systems IV (joint DY, BP)

BP 28.9: Talk

Thursday, March 17, 2011, 16:15–16:30, ZEU 260

Evolutionary Game Theory in Growing Populations — •Anna Melbinger, Jonas Cremer, and Erwin Frey — Ludwig-Maximilians Universität, Munich, Germany

Existing theoretical models of evolution focus on the relative fitness advantages of different mutants in a population while the dynamic behavior of the population size is mostly left unconsidered. We here present a generic stochastic model which combines the growth dynamics of the population and its internal evolution. Our model thereby accounts for the fact that both evolutionary and growth dynamics are based on individual reproduction events and hence are highly coupled and stochastic in nature. We exemplify our approach by studying the dilemma of cooperation in growing populations and show that genuinely stochastic events can ease the dilemma by leading to a transient but robust increase in cooperation.

[1] Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 178101 (2010)