On the Statistical Mechanics of Large Populations

Abstract: There exists a wide variety of works on the dynamics of large populations ranging from simple heuristic modeling to those based on advanced computer supported methods. Their interconnections, however, remain mostly vague, which significantly limits the effectiveness of using computer methods in this domain. The aim of the present publication is to propose a concept based on the experience elaborated in the nonequilibrium statistical mechanics of interacting physical particles. Its key aspect is to explicitly describe micro-states of populations of interacting entities as probability measures and then to link this description to its macroscopic counterpart based on kinetic-like equations, suitable for solving numerically. The pivotal notion introduced here is a sub-Poissonian state where the large n asymptotic of the probability of finding n particles in a given vessel is similar to that for noninteracting entities, for which macro- and microscopic descriptions are equivalent. To illustrate the concept, an individual based model of an infinite population of interacting entities is proposed and analyzed. For this population, its evolution preserves sub-Poissonian states, that allows one to describe it through the correlation functions of such states for which a chain of evolution equations is obtained. The corresponding kinetic equation is derived and numerically solved and analyzed.