How fast does a population evolve from one fitness peak to another? We study
the dynamics of evolving, asexually reproducing populations in which a certain
number of mutations jointly confer a fitness advantage. We consider the time
until a population has evolved from one fitness peak to another one with a
higher fitness. The order of mutations can either be fixed or random. If the
order of mutations is fixed, then the population follows a metaphorical ridge,
a single path. If the order of mutations is arbitrary, then there are many ways
to evolve to the higher fitness state. We address the time required for
fixation in such scenarios and study how it is affected by the order of
mutations, the population size, the fitness values and the mutation rate