Equation 12 · Part 1 · The Peacock Problem: Darwin's Second Theory and Its Hard Tests

Symbol B

B

B

What this part means

the when.

Its job in the formula

B is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.

Full expressionSymbol BArticle meaning

Where the article explains it

When B is large enough relative to the stabilising pull of $\beta_t$ , the two equations no longer settle to a fixed point; they feed each other, and $\bar t$ and $\bar p$ escalate together until some external limit — a wing that can no longer lift the tail, a display that finally costs more than it wins — brings the pair to a halt.

The passage around this formula

…selection ( $\beta_t$ ) pulls the ornament back down every generation. But the second term, B\, $\beta_p$ , imports a push from the preference side through the genetic covariance the mating system itself has created. When B is large enough relative to the stabilising pull of $\beta_t$ , the two equations no longer settle to a fixed point; they feed each other, and $\bar t$ and $\bar p$ escalate together until some external limit — a wing that can no longer lift the tail, a display that finally costs more than it wins —…

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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.

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Sources cited in the article section

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