The rigid hybrid number for two phylogenetic trees (Q2661987)

Since, in some evolutionary scenarios, the concept of a network representing two phylogenetic trees is too restrictive, the authors introduced and studied the concept of a network that rigidly maps a pair of phylogenetic trees. They characterized the moment when two trees can be rigidly mapped by the network of a temporary descendant tree, and showed that this is possible if their rigid hybrid number is specified by a sequence of choosing forks with a minimum weight. In addition, they proved that the hard hybrid number is different from the closely related temporary, weak and beaded hybrid numbers. The article deals with the special situation when two phylogenetic trees T and T `are poorly mapped by the network of a temporary descendant tree, on the assumption that there are simultaneous embeddings of both trees, which do not allow more than three branches of T and T' to come together at the apex of reticulation. In this case, it is assumed that T and T `are hard-coded by the network. Since relatively little is known about the problem of constructing phylogenetic networks that poorly represent a collection of phylogenetic trees, the authors' hard mapping results provide some useful new insights to address this complex problem.