Mathematical development of the structuralist ontology for evolution

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K00270
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 01080:Sociology of science, history of science and technology-related
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Otsuka Jun 京都大学, 文学研究科, 准教授 (60743705)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 生物学の哲学 / 因果モデル / 進化的総合の拡張 / 進化ゲーム / 対称モノイダル圏

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Biological evolution occurs not only in a fixed environment, but also as an adaptation to changing environments, such as competitors of the same or different species, cooperative/antagonistic relationships, and niche construction. Combining causal models and evolutionary game theory, this study developed a new framework that allows for a unified treatment of various evolutionary dynamics.
The same target system can be modeled at various levels of granularity. Coherently relating causal models of different levels of abstraction has been a challenge in the literature. This study developed a method to consistently link causal models at different levels by resorting to the concept of "natural transformation" in category theory.

Free Research Field

科学哲学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、「因果モデル」という、因果関係を形式的・定量的に扱う枠組みを用いて、生物集団の様々な進化の仕方・あり方を統一的に考察する視座を与えるものである。進化動態には様々な様式があり、それぞれ別個の（集団遺伝学やゲーム理論など）によって考察されてきた。本研究は、そうした数理的モデルの背景にある生物集団の因果構造をモデリングし、それらを互いに関連づけることによって、進化現象についての我々の理解を深めよるものである。