A comparison between the quasi-species evolution and stochastic quantization of fields

TL;DR

This paper maps the quasi-species evolution equation to a scalar field framework, revealing connections with stochastic quantization and showing how the system's energy transitions from relativistic to classical forms as temperature varies.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mapping of the quasi-species equation to scalar fields and relates it to stochastic quantization, highlighting the dissipative dynamics and energy behavior.

Findings

The mapped system relaxes to a fundamental state.

Energy <U> transitions from relativistic to classical form with temperature.

Connection established between evolutionary dynamics and stochastic quantization.

Abstract

The quasi-species equation describes the evolution of the probability that a random individual in a population carries a given genome. Here we map the quasi-species equation for individuals of a self-reproducing population to an ensemble of scalar field elementary units undergoing a creation and annihilation process. In this mapping, the individuals of the population are mapped to field units and their genome to the field value. The selective pressure is mapped to an inverse temperature \beta of the system regulating the evolutionary dynamics of the fields. We show that the quasi-species equation if applied to an ensemble of field units gives in the small \beta limit can be put in relation with existing stochastic quantization approaches. The ensemble of field units described by the quasi-species equation relaxes to the fundamental state, describing an intrinsically dissipative dynamics. For a quadratic dispersion relation the mean energy <U> of the system changes as a function of the inverse temperature \beta. For small values of \beta the average energy <U> takes a relativistic form, for large values of \beta, the average energy <U> takes a classical form.