Singularity theory of fitness functions under dimorphism equivalence (Q314504): Difference between revisions

The authors apply singularity theory to classify monomorphic singular points, which occur in adaptive dynamics (a mathematical framework for studying the long-term consequences for phenotypes of small mutations in the genotypes). From mathematical viewpoint, the paper deals with a special classification of singularities of so-called \textit{fitness functions} based on a new equivalence relation called \textit{dimorphism equivalence} (main definitions are given below). The authors classify singularities up to topological codimension two and compute their normal forms and universal unfoldings. A smooth (\(C^{\infty}\)) function \(f(x,y) : \mathbb{R}^2 \to \mathbb{R}^1\) is called \textit{fitness function} if \(f(x,x)=0\) for all \(x \in \mathbb{R}^1\). From biological viewpoint, here \(x\) and \(y\) are the strategies (or phenotypes) of the players (or organisms), and the function \(f(x,y)\) represents the fitness advantage of a mutant with phenotype \(y\) when competing against a resident with phenotype \(x\); since any strategy has zero advantage against itself, \(f(x,x)=0\). A strategy \(\bar x \in \mathbb{R}^1\) is \textit{singular} if \(f_y(\bar x, \bar x) = 0\) and hence \(f_x(\bar x, \bar x) = 0\). Two fitness functions \(f\) and \(\widehat f\) are called \textit{dimorphism equivalent} if there exist two functions \(S, \varphi : \mathbb{R}^2 \to \mathbb{R}^1\) such that \(S(x,y)>0\), \(\varphi_x(x,x)>0\), \(\varphi_y(x,x)=0\) for all \(x,y\), and the identity \(\widehat f(x,y) = S(x,y) f(\varphi(x,y),\varphi(y,x))\) holds. The classification of singularities of fitness functions with respect to the dimorphism equivalence is presented.