The Rate of Progress of Evolution
summary
Proves a lower bound that fixing n unlinked loci by selection requires on the order of the square root of n generations under explicit assumptions: haploid, sexual reproduction, no mutation, large finite population, omnipotent truncation selection with regrowth and fecundity parameter determining constants. Builds an explicit truncation-and-regrow protocol and shows it is essentially optimal. Analyzes a second model — a random walk on a branching-process tree — where trapping on branching-tree environments creates sublinear progress (Kesten/Gould cases give cube‑root scaling and other p,a regimes yield slower power laws).
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