The mutational meltdown in asexual populations

Loss of fitness due to the accumulation of deleterious mutations appears to be inevitable in small, obligately asexual populations, as these are incapable of reconstituting highly fit genotypes by recombination or back mutation. The cumulative buildup of such mutations is expected to lead to an eventual reduction in population size, and this facilitates the chance accumulation of future mutations. This synergistic interaction between population size reduction and mutation accumulation leads to an extinction process known as the mutational meltdown, and provides a powerful explanation for the rarity of obligate asexuality. We give an overview of the theory of the mutational meltdown, showing how the process depends on the demographic properties of a population, the properties of mutations, and the relationship between fitness and number of mutations incurred

Near-periodic substitution and the genetic variance induced by environmental change

We investigate a model that describes the evolution of a diploid sexual population in a changing environment. Individuals have discrete generations and are subject to selection on the phenotypic value of a quantitative trait, which is controlled by a finite number of bialleic loci. Environmental change is taken to lead to a uniformly changing optimal phenotypic value. The population continually adapts to the changing environment, by allelic substitution, at the loci controlling the trait. We investigate the detailed interrelation between the process of allelic substitution and the adaptation and variation of the population, via infinite population calculations and finite population simulations. We find a simple relation between the substitution rate and the rate of change of the optimal phenotypic value

Temporal and dimensional effects in evolutionary graph theory

The spread in time of a mutation through a population is studied analytically and computationally in fully-connected networks and on spatial lattices. The time, t_*, for a favourable mutation to dominate scales with population size N as N^{(D+1)/D} in D-dimensional hypercubic lattices and as N ln N in fully-connected graphs. It is shown that the surface of the interface between mutants and non-mutants is crucial in predicting the dynamics of the system. Network topology has a significant effect on the equilibrium fitness of a simple population model incorporating multiple mutations and sexual reproduction. Includes supplementary information.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures Replaced after final round of peer revie

Dynamics of Competitive Evolution on a Smooth Landscape

We study competitive DNA sequence evolution directed by {\it in vitro} protein binding. The steady-state dynamics of this process is well described by a shape-preserving pulse which decelerates and eventually reaches equilibrium. We explain this dynamical behavior within a continuum mean-field framework. Analytical results obtained on the motion of the pulse agree with simulations. Furthermore, finite population correction to the mean-field results are found to be insignificant.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, revised, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Transport in ZnCoO thin films with stable bound magnetic polarons

Diluted magnetic ZnCoO films with 5 at.% Co have been fabricated by pulsed laser deposition on c-plane sapphire substrates and Schottky and Ohmic contacts have been prepared in top-top configuration. The diode current is significantly reduced after the diode has been subjected to an external magnetic field. In the reverse bias range the corresponding positive magnetoresistance is persistent and amounts to more than 1800% (50 K), 240% (30 K), and 50% (5 K). This huge magnetoresistance can be attributed to the large internal magnetic field in depleted ZnCoO with ferromagnetic exchange between stable bound magnetic polarons

Schwinger Boson Formulation and Solution of the Crow-Kimura and Eigen Models of Quasispecies Theory

We express the Crow-Kimura and Eigen models of quasispecies theory in a functional integral representation. We formulate the spin coherent state functional integrals using the Schwinger Boson method. In this formulation, we are able to deduce the long-time behavior of these models for arbitrary replication and degradation functions. We discuss the phase transitions that occur in these models as a function of mutation rate. We derive for these models the leading order corrections to the infinite genome length limit.Comment: 37 pages; 4 figures; to appear in J. Stat. Phy

Investigation of the Electric Field and Charge Density Distribution of pristine and defective 2D WSe2_2 by Differential Phase Contrast Imaging

Most properties of solid materials are defined by their internal electric field and charge density distributions which so far have been difficult to measure with sufficient spatial resolution. For 2D materials, the electric field at the atomic level in particular influences the optoelectronic properties. In this study, the atomic-scale electric field and charge density distribution of 2D WSe$_2$ are revealed by using an emerging microscopy technique, differential phase contrast (DPC) imaging in the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). Combined with high-angle annular dark-field imaging the charge density distribution of bi- and trilayers of WSe$_2$ is mapped. A measured higher positive charge density located at the selenium atomic columns compared to the tungsten atomic columns is reported, and possible reasons are discussed. Furthermore, the change in the electric field distribution of a selenium point defect in a trilayer is investigated exhibiting a characteristic electric field distribution in the vicinity of the defect: there are characteristic regions with locally enhanced and with locally reduced electric field magnitudes compared to the pristine lattice.Comment: 20 pages including the supplementary information, 3 figures in the main part and additional 2 figures in the supplementary informatio

The effect of a regional increase in ocean surface roughness on the tropospheric circulation: a GCM experiment

The sensitivity of the atmospheric circulation to an increase in ocean surface roughness in the Southern Hemisphere storm track is investigated in a paired general circulation model experiment. Such a change in sea roughness could be induced by ocean waves generated by storms. Two extended permanent-July runs are made. One with standard sea surface roughness, the other with ten times as a large surface roughness over open sea poleward of 40-degrees-S. The regional increase in ocean surface roughness significantly modifies the tropospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere. The strongest effect is the reduction of tropospheric winds (by 2 m/s or 100%) above the area with increased roughness. The poleward eddy momentum flux is reduced in the upper troposphere and the meridional eddy sensible heat flux is reduced in the lower troposphere. Zonal mean and eddy kinetic energy are consistently reduced

Increased static dielectric constant in ZnMnO and ZnCoO thin films with bound magnetic polarons

A novel small signal equivalent circuit model is proposed in the inversion regime of metal/(ZnO, ZnMnO, and ZnCoO) semiconductor/Si3N4 insulator/p-Si semiconductor (MSIS) structures to describe the distinctive nonlinear frequency dependent capacitance (C-F) and conductance (G-F) behaviour in the frequency range from 50 Hz to 1 MHz. We modelled the fully depleted ZnO thin films to extract the static dielectric constant (εr) of ZnO, ZnMnO, and ZnCoO. The extracted enhancement of static dielectric constant in magnetic n-type conducting ZnCoO (εr ≥ 13.0) and ZnMnO (εr ≥ 25.8) in comparison to unmagnetic ZnO (εr = 8.3–9.3) is related to the electrical polarizability of donor-type bound magnetic polarons (BMP) in the several hundred GHz range (120 GHz for CdMnTe). The formation of donor-BMP is enabled in n-type conducting, magnetic ZnO by the s-d exchange interaction between the electron spin of positively charged oxygen vacancies Vo+ in the BMP center and the electron spins of substitutional Mn2+ and Co2+ ions in ZnMnO and ZnCoO, respectively. The BMP radius scales with the Bohr radius which is proportional to the static dielectric constant. Here we show how BMP overlap can be realized in magnetic n-ZnO by increasing its static dielectric constant and guide researchers in the field of transparent spintronics towards ferromagnetism in magnetic, n-ZnO

Fully adaptive multiresolution schemes for strongly degenerate parabolic equations with discontinuous flux

A fully adaptive finite volume multiresolution scheme for one-dimensional strongly degenerate parabolic equations with discontinuous flux is presented. The numerical scheme is based on a finite volume discretization using the Engquist--Osher approximation for the flux and explicit time--stepping. An adaptivemultiresolution scheme with cell averages is then used to speed up CPU time and meet memory requirements. A particular feature of our scheme is the storage of the multiresolution representation of the solution in a dynamic graded tree, for the sake of data compression and to facilitate navigation. Applications to traffic flow with driver reaction and a clarifier--thickener model illustrate the efficiency of this method