Dynamics of an individual-based model of biological macroevolution Per Arne Rikvold, Florida State University, DMR-0240078 and DMR-0120310 R.K.P. Zia, Virginia Tech, DMR-0088451

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Dynamics of an individual-based model of
biological macroevolutionPer Arne Rikvold,
Florida State University, DMR-0240078 and
DMR-0120310R.K.P. Zia, Virginia Tech, DMR-0088451
Biological evolution offers many problems that
are well suited for study by methods from
statistical physics. Here we show results from
large-scale Monte Carlo simulations of a simple
model of coevolution, in which selection is
provided through random inter-species
interactions that influence the birth
probabilities, while variation is provided by
mutations. The lifetimes of communities of
species in the model are distributed as a power
law with exponent near -2, and the time series of
the number of species displays 1/f noise, similar
to aspects of the fossil record. P.A. Rikvold
and R.K.P. Zia, Phys. Rev. E 68, 031913 (2003).
Simulated time series of the number of major
species (black) and the normalized total
population (red). The population changes
randomly between quiet periods and mass
extinctions.
Power spectrum of a time series of the number of
major species over 33 million generations,
showing 1/f noise.
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Dynamics of an individual-based model of
biological macroevolutionPer Arne Rikvold,
Florida State University, DMR-0240078 and
DMR-0120310R.K.P. Zia, Virginia Tech, DMR-0088451
Education Graduate student Volkan Sevim is
contributing to this work. He is a first-year
graduate student at Florida State, with a M.S.
from Istanbul Technical University in Turkey.
Outreach With graduate student Steven J.
Mitchell, Dr. Rikvold has experimented with LEGO
construction toys in elementary and middle-school
education. He maintains the general-interest web
site http//www.physics.fsu.edu/users/rikvold/info
/legostuff.html
Dr. Rikvolds single-cylinder
compressed-air LEGOengine. Click button for
Quick-time movie.