Satisfiability and Evolution

Adi Livnat, Christos H. Papadimitriou, Aviad Rubinstein, Gregory Valiant, Andrew Wan

Abstract: We show that, if truth assignments on n variables reproduce through recombination so that satisfaction of a particular Boolean function confers a small evolutionary advantage, then a polynomially large population over polynomially many generations (polynomial in n and the inverse of the initial satisfaction probability) will end up almost certainly consisting exclusively of satisfying truth assignments. We argue that this theorem sheds light on the problem of the evolution of complex adaptations.