Jeff Gore, MIT, Massachussets, USA

Evolutionary Game-Theoretic Models
In this series of lectures we will discuss a variety of ways in which interactions between individuals can influence the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of populations and communities. I will start by describing how cooperative and competitive interactions within a population can lead to surprising effects, such as the emergence of "cheating" behaviors. Even in the absence of such cheating behavior, cooperatively growing populations can collapse suddenly in response to deteriorating conditions. Such tipping points in populations have much in common with sudden transitions in a wide variety of complex systems. Finally, I will discuss simple models and experiments probing the origin of stable multi-species communities.