Conservative replicator and Lotka-Volterra equations in the context of Dirac\(\backslash\)big-isotropic structures (Q2220253)

Replicator equations describe evolutionary game and population dynamics in mathematical biology. It is known that (continuous) \(n\)-dimensional replicator equations are equivalent to generalized Lotka-Volterra equations with one less variable. In this article, after assuming the existence of a formal equilibrium point for the replicator dynamics (i.e. a point in a \((n-1)\)-dimensional simplex where the average payoffs of all strategies coincide), sufficient conditions are determined for the construction of a constant of motion \(H\) of the system. Then, it is shown that \(H\) becomes the Hamiltonian of the system within certain Dirac and big-isotropic structures, sometimes known as weak-Hamiltonian structures, and conditions are given to have the stronger presymplectic and Poisson structures. As a consequence, the equivalent Lotka-Volterra dynamics is conservative and Hamiltonian within the weak-Hamiltonian, or stronger, structure, allowing the Hamiltonian formalism to be extended to more general population dynamics, including interactions among different predators and different preys, while the standard (symplectic) Lotka-Volterra models encode interactions between predators and preys only.