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The Structure of Mutations and the Evolution of Cooperation

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  • Julián García
  • Arne Traulsen

Abstract

Evolutionary game dynamics in finite populations assumes that all mutations are equally likely, i.e., if there are strategies a single mutation can result in any strategy with probability . However, in biological systems it seems natural that not all mutations can arise from a given state. Certain mutations may be far away, or even be unreachable given the current composition of an evolving population. These distances between strategies (or genotypes) define a topology of mutations that so far has been neglected in evolutionary game theory. In this paper we re-evaluate classic results in the evolution of cooperation departing from the assumption of uniform mutations. We examine two cases: the evolution of reciprocal strategies in a repeated prisoner's dilemma, and the evolution of altruistic punishment in a public goods game. In both cases, alternative but reasonable mutation kernels shift known results in the direction of less cooperation. We therefore show that assuming uniform mutations has a substantial impact on the fate of an evolving population. Our results call for a reassessment of the “model-less” approach to mutations in evolutionary dynamics.

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  • Julián García & Arne Traulsen, 2012. "The Structure of Mutations and the Evolution of Cooperation," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(4), pages 1-9, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0035287
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035287
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Christian Hilbe & Moshe Hoffman & Martin A. Nowak, 2015. "Cooperate without Looking in a Non-Repeated Game," Games, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-15, September.
    2. Peter S. Park & Martin A. Nowak & Christian Hilbe, 2022. "Cooperation in alternating interactions with memory constraints," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Dan C. Baciu, 2023. "Causal models, creativity, and diversity," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Kurokawa, Shun & Ihara, Yasuo, 2013. "Evolution of social behavior in finite populations: A payoff transformation in general n-player games and its implications," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 1-8.
    5. Benjamin M Zagorsky & Johannes G Reiter & Krishnendu Chatterjee & Martin A Nowak, 2013. "Forgiver Triumphs in Alternating Prisoner's Dilemma," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(12), pages 1-8, December.

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