Entropy and diversity. The axiomatic approach

DOI10.1017/9781108963558zbMATH Open1466.18001arXiv2012.02113OpenAlexW4212797134MaRDI QIDQ5145139FDOQ5145139

Authors: Tom Leinster 

Publication date: 20 January 2021

Abstract: This book brings new mathematical rigour to the ongoing vigorous debate on how to quantify biological diversity. The question "what is diversity?" has surprising mathematical depth, and breadth too: this book involves parts of mathematics ranging from information theory, functional equations and probability theory to category theory, geometric measure theory and number theory. It applies the power of the axiomatic method to a biological problem of pressing concern, but the new concepts and theorems are also motivated from a purely mathematical perspective. The main narrative thread requires no more than an undergraduate course in analysis. No familiarity with entropy or diversity is assumed.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.02113

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Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Ecology (92D40) Research exposition (monographs, survey articles) pertaining to information and communication theory (94-02) Measures of information, entropy (94A17) Research exposition (monographs, survey articles) pertaining to biology (92-02) Research exposition (monographs, survey articles) pertaining to category theory (18-02)

Cited In (17)

• Spaces of extremal magnitude
• Alpha magnitude
• Polynomial Functors and Shannon Entropy
• The resampling of entropies with the application of biodiversity
• Categorical information geometry
• Categorical magnitude and entropy
• Magnitude and Holmes–Thompson intrinsic volumes of convex bodies
• Magnitude and Topological Entropy of Digraphs
• Quasi-arithmetic means ad libitum
• A theory of diversity
• Magnitude, diversity, capacities, and dimensions of metric spaces
• On finite generation in magnitude (co)homology and its torsion
• Maximum Entropy and Ecology
• An axiomatic theory of heterogeneity and homogeneity
• Resource-based corruptions and the combinatorics of hidden diversity
• Variance and Covariance of Distributions on Graphs
• Mathematical bounds on Shannon entropy given the abundance of the \(i\)th most abundant taxon

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