Mortality equation characterizes the dynamics of an aging population

TL;DR

This paper introduces a mortality equation that models aging populations, revealing that the evolution of aging dynamics is independent of fitness and identifying conditions where programmed aging offers evolutionary advantages.

Contribution

It derives a novel mortality equation that characterizes aging population dynamics and uncovers fitness-independent properties of aging evolution.

Findings

Eigenvalues governing population evolution depend on fitness

Spectrum of eigenvalues is independent of fitness with respect to maximum age

Conditions for programmed aging to be evolutionarily beneficial are established

Abstract

Aging is thought to be a consequence of intrinsic breakdowns in how genetic information is processed. But mounting experimental evidence suggests that aging can be slowed. To help resolve this mystery, I derive a mortality equation which characterizes the dynamics of an evolving population with a given maximum age. Remarkably, while the spectrum of eigenvalues that govern the evolution depends on the fitness, how they change with the maximum age is independent of fitness. This makes it possible to establish the conditions under which programmed aging can provide an evolutionary benefit.