We study the simple evolutionary process in which we repeatedly find the least fit agent in a population of agents and give it a new fitness which is chosen independently at random from a specified distribution. We show that many of the average properties of this process can be calculated...

The distinction between continuous and discontinuous transitions is a long-standing problem in the theory of evolution. Continuity being a topological property, we present a formalism that treats the space of phenotypes as a (finite) topological space, with a topology that is derived from the...

At its first meeting in 1986 the Computer Science and Technology Board, National Research Council, identified six critical national issues. <p> I discuss these six issues as they appeared in 1986 and how they appear for my 1996 vintage. <p> There was a seventh critical issue which I did not want to...</p></p>

We propose definitions of QAC^0, the quantum analog of the classical class AC^0 of constant-depth circuits with AND and OR gates of arbitrary fan-in, and QACC^0[q], where n-ary Mod-q gates are also allowed. We show that it is possible to make a `cat' state on n qubits in constant depth if and...

In many complex systems control situations, searching for solutions or alternatives is involved. Searching for solutions can be modeled by a search on a fitness landscape. Knowing the structure of the underlying landscape can help in explaining or predicting aspects of an actual seach on it, and...

In several species of ants, workers cooperate to retrieve large prey. Usually, one ant finds a prey item, tries to move it, and, when unsucessful for some time, recuits nestmates through direct contact or chemical marking. When a group of ants tries to move large prey, the ants change position...

An overlapping generations model of an exchange economy is considered, with individials having a fininte expected life-span. As the model is designed to be a fully playable game, conditions concerning birth, death, inheritance and bequests are fully specified.

Feynman and Margolus have shown that a closed, locally interacting quantum system is capable of performing deterministic computation. Feynman's system computes in a serial way. Margolus was able to extend Feynman's ideas to get quantum description of a cellular automaton, i.e. a model which...

We present a method for approximating a fitness landscapes as a superposition of "elementary" landscapes. Given a correlation function of the landscape in question we show that the relative amplitudes of contributions with P-ary interactions can be computed. We show an application to RNA free...

The polygamy threshold model states that if costs incurred are less than the benefits gained from a polygamous relationship in terms of male or habitat quality, then polygamy is favored and could evolve. Here we construct mathematical models and computer simulations to evaluate this hypothesis...