Phylogenetic estimation with partial likelihood tensors

We present an alternative method for calculating likelihoods in molecular phylogenetics. Our method is based on partial likelihood tensors, which are generalizations of partial likelihood vectors, as used in Felsensteinʹs approach. Exploiting a lexicographic sorting and partial likelihood tensors, it is possible to obtain significant computational savings. We show this on a range of simulated data by enumerating all numerical calculations that are required by our method and the standard approach.