Darwinian evolution as Brownian motion on the simplex: A geometric perspective on stochastic replicator dynamics

Abstract: We prove that stochastic replicator dynamics can be interpreted as intrinsic Brownian motion on the simplex equipped the Aitchison geometry. As an immediate consequence we derive three approximation results in the spirit of Wong-Zakai approximation, Donsker's invariance principle and a JKO-scheme. Finally, using the Fokker-Planck equation and Wasserstein-contraction estimates, we study the long time behavior of the stochastic replicator equation, as an example of a non-gradient drift diffusion on the Aitchison simplex.