Shannon information criterion for low-high diversity transition in Moran and Voter models

TL;DR

This paper uses Shannon information theory to analyze the transition from consensus to diversity in Moran and Voter models, considering network topology and mutation asymmetries, providing a unified framework for understanding genetic and social dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces an information-theoretic approach to characterize the diversity transition in Moran and Voter models, incorporating network effects and mutation asymmetries.

Findings

Transition depends on network topology

Asymmetries in mutation rates affect diversity

Unified framework for genetic and social models

Abstract

Mutation and drift play opposite roles in genetics. While mutation creates diversity, drift can cause gene variants to disappear, especially when they are rare. In the absence of natural selection and migration, the balance between the drift and mutation in a well-mixed population defines its diversity. The Moran model captures the effects of these two evolutionary forces and has a counterpart in social dynamics, known as the Voter model with external opinion influencers. Two extreme outcomes of the Voter model dynamics are consensus and coexistence of opinions, which correspond to low and high diversity in the Moran model. Here we use a Shannon's information-theoretic approach to characterize the smooth transition between the states of consensus and coexistence of opinions in the Voter model. Mapping the Moran into the Voter model we extend the results to the mutation-drift balance and characterize the transition between low and high diversity in finite populations. Describing the population as a network of connected individuals we show that the transition between the two regimes depends on the network topology of the population and on the possible asymmetries in the mutation rates.