The multi-allelic Moran process as a multi-zealot voter model: exact results and consequences for diversity thresholds

The Moran process is a foundational model of genetic drift and mutation in finite populations. In its standard two-allele form with population size $n$, allele counts, and hence allele frequencies, change through stochastic replacement and mutation, yet converge to a stationary distribution. This distribution undergoes a qualitative transition at the \emph{critical mutation rate} $μ_c=1/(2n)$: at $μ=μ_c$ it is exactly uniform, so that the probability of observing $k$ copies of allele~1 (and $n-k$ of allele~2) is $π(k)=1/(n+1)$ for $k=0,\dots,n$. For $μμ_c$, on the other hand, diversity is high: the distribution concentrates around intermediate values, so that both alleles are commonly present at comparable frequencies. Recently, the two-allele Moran process was shown to be exactly equivalent to the voter model with two candidates and $α_1$ and $α_2$ committed voters (\emph{zealots}) in a population of $n+α_1+α_2$, where mutation is played by zealot influence. Here we extend this equivalence to multiple alleles and multiple candidates. Using the mapping, we derive the exact stationary distribution of allele counts for well-mixed populations with an arbitrary number $m$ of alleles, and obtain the critical mutation rate $μ_c = 1/(m+2n-2)$, which depends explicitly on $m$. We then analyze the Moran process on randomly connected populations and show that both the stationary distribution and $μ_c$ are invariant to network structure and coincide with the well-mixed results. Finally, simulations on general network topologies show that structural heterogeneity can substantially reshape the stationary allele distribution and, consequently, the level of genetic diversity.