Statistical Physics of Evolution
Statistical Physics of Evolution
- Event time: 11:30am until 12:30pm
- Event date: 24th May 2017
- Speaker: Martin Carballo Pacheco (Formerly School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Edinburgh)
- Location: Room 2511, James Clerk Maxwell Building (JCMB) James Clerk Maxwell Building Peter Guthrie Tait Road Edinburgh EH9 3FD GB
Event details
In this talk, I will discuss the analogies between evolution and statistical physics. For example, the sites in a gene can be seen as the degrees of freedom in statistical physics, such as positions and momenta of particles in a gas. These genes will mutate and evolve and eventually reach a maximum in "free fitness", which is equivalent to the minimization of free energy in statistical physics. I will mostly follow the work of Sella and Hirsch [1]. If time permits, I will also discuss the role ergodicity plays in understanding evolutionary dynamics [2].
[1] Sella, G. and Hirsch, A.E., "The application of statistical physics to evolutionary biology", Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 102, 9541 (2005).
[2] McLeish T.C.B, "Are there ergodic limits to evolution? Ergodic exploration of genome space and convergence", Interface Focus 5, 20150041 (2015).
About Statistical Physics and Complexity Group meetings
This is a weekly series of webinars on theoretical aspects of Condensed Matter, Biological, and Statistical Physics. It is open to anyone interested in research in these areas..
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