The Physics of Purposeful Biological Dynamics

  • Physics and Astronomy Colloquium

January 31, 2025 3:30 PM - January 31, 2025 4:30 PM
PAIS 1100

Host:
Mousumi Roy
Presenter:
Dr. Rob Phillips (Caltech)
Time and again since the era of Newton, physics has come forth with new classes of dynamical laws ranging from Fourier’s mastery of the heat equation to Maxwell’s theory of the electromagnetic field to Turing’s ideas on pattern formation and many others.  However, there are a large class of dynamical processes in living organisms that are of a completely different kind. In particular, they are exploratory in nature, often largely independent of iinitial conditions, and driven by a functional purpose.  For example, before our cells divide, precisely 46 connections have to be made between the machinery that separates chromosomes and the chromosomes themselves.  Not 45, not 47. One connection for every one of our 23 pairs of chromosomes.   In this talk, I will describe the hypothesis of exploratory dynamics as biology’s unique and necessary solution to problems in purposeful dynamics.  After introducing the conceptual questions and  corresponding phenomenological observations, I will describe both theoretical approaches to thinking about exploratory dynamics and experiments designed to reveal its many quantitative mysteries.  

Upcoming Events

Magnets for Future Particle Physics Machines
Physics and Astronomy Colloquium
Jan. 24, 3:30 PM - Jan. 24, 4:30 PM
PAIS 1100

The Physics of Purposeful Biological Dynamics
Physics and Astronomy Colloquium
Jan. 31, 3:30 PM - Jan. 31, 4:30 PM
PAIS 1100

TBA
Physics and Astronomy Colloquium
Feb. 7, 3:30 PM - Feb. 7, 4:30 PM
PAIS 1100

TBD
CART Astrophysics Seminar Series
Feb. 13, 2:00 PM
PAIS 3205

TBA
Physics and Astronomy Colloquium
Feb. 14, 3:30 PM - Feb. 14, 4:30 PM
PAIS 1100