Evolutionary Games and Population Dynamics [Paperback]

How to understand evolution in mathematical terms, i.e. how to model natural selection by game theory.Since the work of Maynard Smith and others, it has been realised how game theory can model natural selection. Evolutionary game theory replaces the concept of rational players with the population dynamics of behavioural programs and can be used to understand the strategic and genetic foundations of the endless chronicle of invasions and extinctions which punctuate evolution. In short, it describes when to escalate a conflict, how to elicit cooperation, why to expect a balance of the sexes, and how to understand natural selection in mathematical terms.Since the work of Maynard Smith and others, it has been realised how game theory can model natural selection. Evolutionary game theory replaces the concept of rational players with the population dynamics of behavioural programs and can be used to understand the strategic and genetic foundations of the endless chronicle of invasions and extinctions which punctuate evolution. In short, it describes when to escalate a conflict, how to elicit cooperation, why to expect a balance of the sexes, and how to understand natural selection in mathematical terms.Every form of behavior is shaped by trial and error. Such stepwise adaptation can occur through individual learning or through natural selection, the basis of evolution. Since the work of Maynard Smith and others, it has been realized how game theory can model this process. Evolutionary game theory replaces the static solutions of classical game theory by a dynamical approach centered not on the concept of rational players but on the population dynamics of behavioral programs. In this book the authors investigate the nonlinear dynamics of the self-regulation of social and economic behavior, and of the closely related interactions among species in ecological communities. Replicator equations describe how successful strategies spread and thereby create new conditions that cal£(