Effects of behavioral patterns and network topology structures on Parrondo's paradox

Parrondo's paradox reveals counterintuitive wins in biology and decision making in society

Parrondo's paradox refers to the paradoxical phenomenon of combining two losing strategies in a certain manner to obtain a winning outcome. It has been applied to uncover unexpected outcomes across various disciplines, particularly at different spatiotemporal scales within ecosystems. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of recent developments in Parrondo's paradox within the interdisciplinary realm of the physics of life, focusing on its significant applications across biology and the broader life sciences. Specifically, we examine its relevance from genetic pathways and phenotypic regulation, to intercellular interaction within multicellular organisms, and finally to the competition between populations and species in ecosystems. This phenomenon, spanning multiple biological domains and scales, enhances our understanding of the unified characteristics of life and reveals that adaptability in a drastically changing environment, rather than the inherent excellence of a trait, underpins survival in the process of evolution. We conclude by summarizing our findings and discussing future research directions that hold promise for advancing the field.

A Parrondo paradox in susceptible-infectious-susceptible dynamics over periodic temporal networks

Many social and biological networks periodically change over time with daily, weekly, and other cycles. Thus motivated, we formulate and analyze susceptible-infectious-susceptible (SIS) epidemic models over temporal networks with periodic schedules. More specifically, we assume that the temporal network consists of a cycle of alternately used static networks, each with a given duration. We observe a phenomenon in which two static networks are individually above the epidemic threshold but the alternating network composed of them renders the dynamics below the epidemic threshold, which we refer to as a Parrondo paradox for epidemics. We find that network structure plays an important role in shaping this phenomenon, and we study its dependence on the connectivity between and number of subpopulations in the network. We associate such paradoxical behavior with anti-phase oscillatory dynamics of the number of infectious individuals in different subpopulations.

A comprehensive framework for preference aggregation Parrondo's paradox

Individuals can make choices for themselves that are beneficial or detrimental to the entire group. Consider two losing choices that some individuals have to make on behalf of the group. Is it possible that the losing choices combine to give a winning outcome? We show that it is possible through a variant of Parrondo's paradox-the preference aggregation Parrondo's paradox (PAPP). This new variant of Parrondo's paradox makes use of an aggregate rule that combines with a decision-making heuristic that can be applied to individuals or parts of the social group. The aim of this work is to discuss this PAPP framework and exemplify it on a social network. This work enhances existing research by constructing a feedback loop that allows individuals in the social network to adapt its behavior according to the outcome of the Parrondo's games played.

Parrondo effect in quantum coin-toss simulations

Game A + Game B = Game C. Parrondo's games follow this basic structure where A and B are losing games and C is a winning game-a phenomenon called Parrondo's paradox. These games can take on a wider class of definitions and exhibit these paradoxical results. In this paper, we show three paradoxical cases. (i) The successive "tossing" of a single fair quantum coin gives a biased result, a previously known result. (ii) The random tossing of two quantum coins, each with successive biased expectations, gives an average random walk position of approximately zero. (iii) The sequential periodic tossing of two quantum coins, each with successive negative biased expectations, gives an average random walk with positive expectation. Using these results, we then propose a protocol for identifying and classifying quantum operations that span the same Hilbert space for a two-level quantum system.

Paradoxical Survival: Examining the Parrondo Effect across Biology

Parrondo's paradox, in which losing strategies can be combined to produce winning outcomes, has received much attention in mathematics and the physical sciences; a plethora of exciting applications has also been found in biology at an astounding pace. In this review paper, the authors examine a large range of recent developments of Parrondo's paradox in biology, across ecology and evolution, genetics, social and behavioral systems, cellular processes, and disease. Intriguing connections between numerous works are identified and analyzed, culminating in an emergent pattern of nested recurrent mechanics that appear to span the entire biological gamut, from the smallest of spatial and temporal scales to the largest-from the subcellular to the complete biosphere. In analyzing the macro perspective, the pivotal role that the paradox plays in the shaping of biological life becomes apparent, and its identity as a potential universal principle underlying biological diversity and persistence is uncovered. Directions for future research are also discussed in light of this new perspective.

Predator Dormancy is a Stable Adaptive Strategy due to Parrondo's Paradox

Many predators produce dormant offspring to escape harsh environmental conditions, but the evolutionary stability of this adaptation has not been fully explored. Like seed banks in plants, dormancy provides a stable competitive advantage when seasonal variations occur, because the persistence of dormant forms under harsh conditions compensates for the increased cost of producing dormant offspring. However, dormancy also exists in environments with minimal abiotic variation-an observation not accounted for by existing theory. Here it is demonstrated that dormancy can out-compete perennial activity under conditions of extensive prey density fluctuation caused by overpredation. It is shown that at a critical level of prey density fluctuations, dormancy becomes an evolutionarily stable strategy. This is interpreted as a manifestation of Parrondo's paradox: although neither the active nor dormant forms of a dormancy-capable predator can individually out-compete a perennially active predator, alternating between these two losing strategies can paradoxically result in a winning strategy. Parrondo's paradox may thus explain the widespread success of quiescent behavioral strategies such as dormancy, suggesting that dormancy emerges as a natural evolutionary response to the self-destructive tendencies of overpredation and related biological phenomena.

Nomadic-colonial life strategies enable paradoxical survival and growth despite habitat destruction

Organisms often exhibit behavioral or phenotypic diversity to improve population fitness in the face of environmental variability. When each behavior or phenotype is individually maladaptive, alternating between these losing strategies can counter-intuitively result in population persistence-an outcome similar to the Parrondo's paradox. Instead of the capital or history dependence that characterize traditional Parrondo games, most ecological models which exhibit such paradoxical behavior depend on the presence of exogenous environmental variation. Here we present a population model that exhibits Parrondo's paradox through capital and history-dependent dynamics. Two sub-populations comprise our model: nomads, who live independently without competition or cooperation, and colonists, who engage in competition, cooperation, and long-term habitat destruction. Nomads and colonists may alternate behaviors in response to changes in the colonial habitat. Even when nomadism and colonialism individually lead to extinction, switching between these strategies at the appropriate moments can paradoxically enable both population persistence and long-term growth.