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A stochastic model for phylogenetic trees. (English) Zbl 1180.60079
A stochastic model of the birth-death type is proposed for phylogenetic trees; the paper especially refers to influenza and HIV phylogenetic trees. Assumptions made in the paper are:
$$\bullet$$ At each birth a fitness to new type from a fixed distribution is allowed,
$$\bullet$$ At each death the type with smallest fitness is killed,
$$\bullet$$ The process commence with a single type.
The paper does not develop distribution of tree which is a complex task. Instead the authors concentrate on developing theorems that are dependent on birth rate. They indicate that their results are consistent field observations.

##### MSC:
 60K35 Interacting random processes; statistical mechanics type models; percolation theory 92D30 Epidemiology
##### Keywords:
phylogenetic tree; influenza; HIV; stochastic model
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##### References:
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