Singularity theory of fitness functions under dimorphism equivalence (Q314504)

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.