TY - JOUR T1 - Evolving synergetic interactions JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/028357 SP - 028357 AU - Bin Wu AU - Jordi Arranz AU - Jinming Du AU - Da Zhou AU - Arne Traulsen Y1 - 2015/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2015/10/04/028357.abstract N2 - The outcome of a major evolutionary transition is the aggregation of independent entities into a new synergetic level of organisation. Classical models involve either pairwise interactions between individuals or a linear superposition of these interactions. However, major evolutionary transitions display synergetic effects: their outcome is not just the sum of its parts. Multiplayer games can display such synergies, as their payoff can be different from the sum of any collection of two-player interactions. Assuming that all interactions start from pairs, how can synergetic multiplayer games emerge from simpler pairwise interaction? Here, we present a mathematical model that captures the transition from pairwise interactions to synergetic multiplayer ones. We assume that different social groups have different breaking rates. We show that non-uniform breaking rates do foster the emergence of synergy, even though individuals always interact in pairs. Our work sheds new light on the mechanisms underlying a major evolutionary transition. ER -