title: Evolution of complex dynamics.
abstract: We study the evolution of complex dynamics in a model of a genetic regulatory network. The fitness is associated with the topological entropy in a class of piecewise linear equations, and the mutations are associated with changes in the logical structure of the network. We compare hill climbing evolution, in which only mutations that increase the fitness are allowed, with neutral evolution, in which mutations that leave the fitness unchanged are allowed. The simple structure of the fitness landscape enables us to estimate analytically the rates of hill climbing and neutral evolution. In this model, allowing neutral mutations accelerates the rate of evolutionary advancement for low mutation frequencies. These results are applicable to evolution in natural and technological systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2K6, Canada. wilds@cnd.mcgill.ca
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wilds
authors.forename: Stuart A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Kauffman
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Glass
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003198:Computer Simulation; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*