Using Algebraic Geometry for Phylogenetic Reconstruction
Presenter
March 8, 2007
Keywords:
- Algebraic geometry
MSC:
- 70G55
Abstract
Many statistical models of evolution can be viewed as
algebraic varieties. The generators of the ideal associated to a model
and a phylogenetic tree are called invariants. The invariants of an
statistical model of evolution should allow to determine what is the
tree formed by a set of living species.
We will present a method of phylogenetic inference based on invariants
and we will discuss why algebraic geometry should be considered as a
powerful tool for phylogenetic reconstruction. The performance of the
method has been studied for quartet trees and the Kimura 3-parameter
model and it will be compared to widely known phylogenetic
reconstruction methods such as Maximum likelihood estimate and
Neighbor-Joining.