Developing an axiomatic theory of evolution

发展公理化的进化论

• 批准号: 0928772
• 负责人: Sean Rice
• 金额: $ 49.88万
• 依托单位: Texas Tech University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-01 至 2013-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0928772&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Developing; axiomatic; theory; evolution

Modern evolutionary theory is based on a set of sophisticated mathematical models that describe how populations change over time and diverge from one another. While this collection of models has been very successful, it has not produced a unified mathematical evolutionary theory, since each model is based on different simplifying assumptions. It is thus not clear how the different models relate to one another, and some real evolutionary processes are invisible to this body of theory because they are not addressed by any particular model. The goal of this project is to develop a single body of mathematical evolutionary theory that is based only on assumptions that we know to be true, and that will both unify the existing models and allow study of evolutionary processes that current theory fails to address.This project will have two important consequences. First, the work will provide tools for investigating evolutionary dynamics in cases that have previously been hard to study, such as very small populations, those in highly unstable environments, and those living in patchy environments with variable migration rates. These populations are most likely to experience either speciation or extinction. Second, this work will illuminate the underlying mathematical unity of evolutionary theory, both deepening our understanding of how evolution works, and solidifying evolutionary biology as a science grounded in universal mathematical rules. Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers will be trained in mathematical evolutionary biology, and particularly in presenting their research to non-mathematical audiences. Results will be published in open access journals and the PI plans a webpage that links all publications with a non-technical summary of the project.

现代进化论基于一套复杂的数学模型，描述了种群如何随着时间的推移而变化以及彼此之间的差异。虽然这一系列模型非常成功，但它并没有产生一个统一的数学进化理论，因为每个模型都基于不同的简化假设。因此，我们并不清楚这些不同的模型之间是如何相互关联的，而一些真实的进化过程对这个理论体系来说是不可见的，因为它们没有被任何特定的模型所处理。这个项目的目标是开发一个单一的数学进化理论体系，它只基于我们知道是正确的假设，这将统一现有的模型，并允许研究当前理论未能解决的进化过程。首先，这项工作将为研究以前难以研究的情况下的进化动力学提供工具，例如非常小的种群，高度不稳定的环境中的种群，以及生活在具有可变迁移率的斑块环境中的种群。这些种群最有可能经历物种形成或灭绝。其次，这项工作将阐明进化理论的基本数学统一性，既加深了我们对进化如何运作的理解，又巩固了进化生物学作为一门以普遍数学规则为基础的科学的地位。研究生和博士后研究人员将接受数学进化生物学方面的培训，特别是向非数学受众展示他们的研究。研究结果将发表在开放获取期刊上，PI计划建立一个网页，将所有出版物与项目的非技术摘要链接起来。