The influence of internal fluctuations and external noise on the gene frequency in a haploid population (Q1061046)

We consider a Markov chain modeling competition between two alleles in a haploid population of constant size and undergoing mutation, selection and Fisher-Wright mating. The Markov chain is rescaled to a diffusion process. We study the interaction of external noise (due to a random selection coefficient) and internal fluctuations (due to mating); the interaction is found to be additive. The stationary probability density displays a critical point. We draw an analogy between the behavior of the probability density at the critical point and the theory of phase transitions; critical exponents are introduced and calculated. We also analyze the effect of external noise on the genetic diversity of the population and on mean first passages times of the gene frequency.