Fourier and Taylor series on fitness landscapes (Q1180997)

\textit{J. Holland's} `` hyperplane transform'' of a `` fitness landscape'' [cf. \textit{R. S. Michalski} (ed.), \textit{J. G. Carbonett} (ed.), \textit{T. M. Mitchel} (ed.): Machine learning, Vol. 2 (1986; Zbl 0593.68060)], a random, real valued function of the vertices of a regular finite graph, is shown to be a special case of the Fourier transform of a function of a finite group. It follows that essentially all of the powerful Fourier theory, which assumes a simple form for commutative groups, can be used to characterize such landscapes. In particular, an analogue of the Karhunen-Loève expansion can be used to prove that the Fourier coefficients of landscapes on commutative groups are uncorrelated and to infer their variance from the autocorrelation function of a random walk on the landscape. There is also a close relationship between the Fourier coefficients and Taylor coefficients, which provide information about the landscape's local properties. Special attention is paid to a particularly simple, but ubiquitous class of landscapes, so-called ``AR(1) landscapes''.