Distance measures in terms of substitution processes (Q1289346)

Reconstruction of phylognetic trees, in a good majority of applications, is acomplished via pairwise distance methods. The results of these types of algorithms heavily depend on the reliability of the computed distances. Recently, several new methods were developed to increase the reliability of these computations, like LogDet and paralinear distance calculations [see \textit{M. Steel}, Appl. Math. Lett. 7, No. 2, 19-23 (1994; Zbl 0794.60071), and \textit{J.A. Lake}, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91, 1455-1459 (1994), resp.]. These approaches proved usefull in applications, but the quantities lacked direct biological interpretations. This paper sets up a unified (continuous) model to introduce these measures; this model also provides a mechanical interpretation of those quantities.