← All parts of this equation

Equation 20 · Part 4 · Einstein's Random Walk and the Mathematics of Genetic Drift

Symbol D

∂f(x,t)∂t=D ∂2f(x,t)∂x2(Einstein, 1905)\frac{\partial f(x,t)}{\partial t} = D\,\frac{\partial^{2} f(x,t)}{\partial x^{2}} \qquad \text{(Einstein, 1905)}
DD

What this part means

a constant, fixed once by temperature and viscosity.

Its job in the formula

D is an input to the expression that computes the quantity on the left.

Where the article explains it

One honest difference is worth stating rather than smoothing over: Einstein’s D is a constant, fixed once by temperature and viscosity, while Kimura’s V(p) depends on the frequency itself, so the spread is fastest near p=0.5 and vanishes at the boundaries — an allele already fixed or already lost has nothing left to drift into [ 7 ] .

The passage around this formula

…The same second-derivative operator acts on a diffusion term in both; only the variable and the coefficient it multiplies have changed. One honest difference is worth stating rather than smoothing over: Einstein’s D is a constant, fixed once by temperature and viscosity, while Kimura’s V(p) depends on the frequency itself, so the spread is fastest near p=0.5 and vanishes at the boundaries — an allele already fixed or already lost has nothing left to drift into [ 7 ] . The operator is identical; the…

Read this part in the article →

Learn the underlying idea

A variable is a named place for a value. Its letter is a local label: x can mean position in one formula and a data point in another.

Open the illustrated variables: a letter stands for a value guide →

See this notation across published equations →

Sources cited in the surrounding passage

These citations provide research context; check each source for the exact claim it supports.