Evolutionarily stable strategies in stable and periodically fluctuating populations: The Rosenzweig-MacArthur predator-prey model.

An evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) is an evolutionary strategy that, if adapted by a population, cannot be invaded by any deviating (mutant) strategy. The concept of ESS has been extensively studied and widely applied in ecology and evolutionary biology [M. Smith, On Evolution (1972)] but typically on the assumption that the system is ecologically stable. With reference to a Rosenzweig-MacArthur predator-prey model [M. Rosenzweig, R. MacArthur, Am. Nat. 97, 209-223 (1963)], we derive the mathematical conditions for the existence of an ESS when the ecological dynamics have asymptotically stable limit points as well as limit cycles. By extending the framework of Reed and Stenseth [J. Reed, N. C. Stenseth, J. Theoret. Biol. 108, 491-508 (1984)], we find that ESSs occur at values of the evolutionary strategies that are local optima of certain functions of the model parameters. These functions are identified and shown to have a similar form for both stable and fluctuating populations. We illustrate these results with a concrete example.

Noise-driven bifurcations in a neural field system modelling networks of grid cells.

The activity generated by an ensemble of neurons is affected by various noise sources. It is a well-recognised challenge to understand the effects of noise on the stability of such networks. We demonstrate that the patterns of activity generated by networks of grid cells emerge from the instability of homogeneous activity for small levels of noise. This is carried out by analysing the robustness of network activity patterns with respect to noise in an upscaled noisy grid cell model in the form of a system of partial differential equations. Inhomogeneous network patterns are numerically understood as branches bifurcating from unstable homogeneous states for small noise levels. We show that there is a phase transition occurring as the level of noise decreases. Our numerical study also indicates the presence of hysteresis phenomena close to the precise critical noise value.

Real-valued algebro-geometric solutions of the Camassa-Holm hierarchy.

We provide a detailed treatment of real-valued, smooth and bounded algebro-geometric solutions of the Camassa-Holm (CH) hierarchy and describe the associated isospectral torus. We employ Dubrovin-type equations for auxiliary divisors and certain aspects of direct and inverse spectral theory for self-adjoint Hamiltonian systems. In particular, we rely on Weyl-Titchmarsh theory for singular (canonical) Hamiltonian systems. We also briefly discuss real-valued algebro-geometric solutions with a cusp behaviour. While we focus primarily on the case of stationary algebro-geometric CH solutions, we note that the time-dependent case subordinates to the stationary one with respect to isospectral torus questions.