Phase transitions in evolutionary dynamics

Abstract

The evolutionary dynamics of a finite population where resident individuals are replaced by mutant ones depends on its spatial structure. The population adopts the form of an undirected graph where the place occupied by each individual is represented by a node and it is bidirectionally linked to the places that can be occupied by its clonal offspring. There are undirected graph structures that act as amplifiers of selection increasing the probability that the offspring of an advantageous mutant spreads through the graph reaching any node. But there also are undirected graph structures acting as suppressors of selection where, on the contrary, the fixation probability of an advantageous mutant is less than that of the same individual placed in a homogeneous population. Here, we show that some undirected graphs exhibit phase transitions between both evolutionary regimes when the mutant fitness varies. Firstly, as was already observed for small order random graphs, we show that most graphs of order 10 or less are amplifiers of selection or suppressors that become amplifiers from a unique transition phase. Secondly, we give examples of amplifiers of order 7 that become suppressors from some critical value. For graphs of order 6 and 7, we apply computer aided techniques to exactly determine their fixation probabilities and then their evolutionary regimes, as well as the exact critical values for which each graph changes its regime. A similar technique is used to explore a general method to suppress selection in bigger orders, namely from 8 to 15, up to some critical fitness value. The analysis of all graphs from order 8 to order 10 reveals a complex and rich evolutionary dynamics, which have not been examined in detail until now, and poses some new challenges in computing fixation probabilities and times of evolutionary graphs.