Paper Info
Title
Evolutionary dynamics on any population structure
Abstract
Evolution occurs in populations of reproducing individuals. The structure of a population can affect which traits evolve(1,2). Understanding evolutionary game dynamics in structured populations remains difficult. Mathematical results are known for special structures in which all individuals have the same number of neighbours(3-8). The general case, in which the number of neighbours can vary, has remained open. For arbitrary selection intensity, the problem is in a computational complexity class that suggests there is no efficient algorithm(9). Whether a simple solution for weak selection exists has remained unanswered. Here we provide a solution for weak selection that applies to any graph or network. Our method relies on calculating the coalescence times(10,11) of random walks(12). We evaluate large numbers of diverse population structures for their propensity to favour cooperation. We study how small changes in population structure-graph surgery-affect evolutionary outcomes. We find that cooperation flourishes most in societies that are based on strong pairwise ties.
Year
DOI
Venue
2017
10.1038/nature21723
NATURE
Keywords
DocType
Volume
Applied mathematics,Evolutionary theory,Social evolution
Journal
544
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
7649
0028-0836
17
PageRank 
References 
Authors
1.14
7
7
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Benjamin Allen1171.14
Gabor Lippner2192.20
Yu-Ting Chen3171.14
Babak Fotouhi4171.14
Naghmeh Momeni5171.14
Shing-tung Yau692592.69
Martin Nowak79424.39