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Two conceptions of evolutionary games: reductive vs effective

Artem Kaznatcheev
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/231993
Artem Kaznatcheev
Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, UKDepartment of Translational Hematology & Oncology Research, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA
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Abstract

Evolutionary game theory (EGT) was born from economic game theory through a series of analogies. Given this heuristic genealogy, a number of central objects of the theory (like strategies, players, and games) have not been carefully defined or interpreted. A specific interpretation of these terms becomes important as EGT sees more applications to understanding experiments in microscopic systems typical of oncology and microbiology. In this essay, I provide two interpretations of the central objects of games theory: one that leads to reductive games and the other to effective games. These interpretation are based on the difference between views of fitness as a property of individuals versus fitness as a summary statistic of (sub)populations. Reductive games are typical of theoretical work like agent-based models. But effective games usually correspond more closely to experimental work. However, confusing reductive games for effective games or vice-versa can lead to divergent results, especially in spatially structured populations. As such, I propose that we treat this distinction carefully in future work at the interface of EGT and experiment.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted December 11, 2017.
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Two conceptions of evolutionary games: reductive vs effective
Artem Kaznatcheev
bioRxiv 231993; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/231993
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Two conceptions of evolutionary games: reductive vs effective
Artem Kaznatcheev
bioRxiv 231993; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/231993

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