List of invited speakers & talk titles

Speaker: Mark Alber, University of Notre Dame
Title: Multiscale modeling in biology
Abstract: A multiscale model of blood clot formation will be described, which combines a detailed tissue factor pathway submodel of blood coagulation, a blood flow submodel and a stochastic discrete cell submodel [1,2]. It will be shown that low levels of FVII in blood result in a significant delay in thrombin production demonstrating that FVII plays an active role in promoting clot development at an early stage. We will also describe a new subcellular element method for simulating cellular blood components. In addition, multiscale models of bacterial swarming will be discussed [3].
1. Xu, Z., J. Lioi, J. Mu, X. Liu, M.M. Kamocka, E.D. Rosen, D.Z. Chen and M.S. Alber [2010], A Multiscale Model of Venous Thrombus Formation with Surface-Mediated Control of Blood Coagulation Cascade, Biophysical Journal 98, 9, 1723-1732.
2. Xu, Z., Chen, N., Shadden, S., Marsden, J.E., Kamocka, M.M., Rosen, E.D., and M.S. Alber [2009], Study of Blood Flow Impact on Growth of Thrombi Using a Multiscale Model, Soft Matter 5, 769-779.
3. Wu, Y., Jiang, Y., Kaiser, D., and M. Alber [2009], Periodic reversal of direction allows Myxobacteria to swarm, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106 4 1222-1227 (featured in the Nature News, January 20th, 2009, doi:10.1038/news.2009.43).
Speaker: Phil Anderson, Princeton University
Title: What is wrong with QMC?
Abstract: It is becoming increasingly clear that the underlying order which changes at a quantum critical point in many of the strong correlation problems--for example, cuprate superconductiivity--is the size and shape of the Fermi surface. The excitations which represent Fermi surface fluctuations are the tomographic Tomonaga bosons invented by Luther, Haldane, and others, which are poorly represented by computational schemes with rigid boundary condiitions and rigidly fixed particle number such as quantum Monte Carlo. Thus such schemes do not faithfully represent just the critical fluctuations around the most relevant quantum critical point.
Speaker: Eva Andrei, Rutgers University
Title:Electronic properties of graphene
Abstract: Graphene, a one-atom thick membrane of crystalline carbon possesses extraordinary electronic properties which make it a prime candidate for novel nano-electronic devices, at the same time raising the prospect to observe phenomena hitherto unseen in bench top experiments. I will present scanning tunneling microscopy^1,2 and transport experiments that provide access to the dynamics of the charge carriers in this material and give new insights their unique world. The findings include direct observation of the Landau level energy spectrum^1,2, observation of the fractional quantum Hall effect³ and a magnetically induced insulating phase.
Speaker: Eli Ben-Naim, Los Alamos
Title: Strong Mobility in Disordered Systems
Abstract: TBA
Speaker: Nihat Berker, Sabanci University
Title: Anisotropy Effects and Impurity Induced Antiferromagnetism: Renormalization-Group Theory of d=3 Electronic Models
Abstract: TBA
Speaker: Lesser Blum, Rutgers University
Title: Hyperscaling theory for charged systems
Abstract
Speaker: Leonid Bunimovich, Georgia Tech.
Title: Which hole is leaking the most: Topological approach to open systems and dynamical networks
Abstract: A natural question on how a process of escape depends on a position of a hole in a phase space seems to be overlooked in the theory of open dynamical systems. An answer to this question allows to reveal a new role of periodic orbits in the evolution of dynamical systems, to classify dynamically the nodes (elements) of dynamical networks and, most surprisingly, to realize that it is possible to make not only traditional (asymptotic in time as time tends to infinity) but finite time predictions of the behavior of dynamical systems.
Speaker: Curtis Callan, Princeton University
Title: Deep sequencing, mutual information and the thermodynamics of gene regulation
Abstract: The regulation of gene expression is thought to be largely governed by the binding thermodynamics of regulatory proteins. I will argue that high-throughput sequencing, combined with a novel analysis technique based on mutual information, can give a precise thermodynamic account of gene regulatory function. I will describe the application of this method to the bacterial lac promoter, showing how one can infer the in vivo interaction energy between two proteins in the cell from sequence data alone.
Speaker: Roberto Car, Princeton University
Title: Quantum protons and hydrogen bonds
Abstract: Near room temperature the momentum distribution of the protons participating in hydrogen bonds is quite different from the classical Boltzmann distribution. Thus the equilibrium structure of systems like liquid water is directly influenced by quantum mechanics. When the proton environment is nearly harmonic semi-classical approximations are possible, but in presence of tunneling, such as e.g. in ice under high pressure, a full quantum treatment is needed. In that case the interplay between quantum tunneling and ice-rule correlations among the protons leads to distinct observable effects.
Speaker: Paul Chaikin, NYU
Title: Self-Replication Without Life
Abstract: We want to make a "non-biological" system which can self-replicate. The idea is to design particles with specific and reversible and irreversible interactions, introduce seed motifs, and cycle the system in such a way that a copy is made. Repeating the cycle would double the number of offspring in each generation leading to exponential growth. Using the chemistry of DNA either on colloids or on DNA tiles makes the specific recognition part easy. In the case of DNA tiles we have in fact replicated the seed at least to the third generation. The DNA linkers can also be self-protected so that particles don't interact unless they are held together for sufficient time-nano-contact glue. We have also designed and produced colloidal particles that use novel "lock and key" geometries to get specific and reversible physical interactions.
Speaker: Arup Chakraborty, MIT
Title: Why people with certain genes can control hiv without therapy: from statistical mechanics to the clinic
Abstract: TBA
Speaker: Lincoln Chayes, UCLA
Title: The McKean-Vlasov Equation in Finite Volume
Abstract: The McK-V system is a nonlinear diffusion equation with a nonlocal nonlinearity provided by convolution. Recently popular in a variety of applications, it enjoys an ancient heritage as a basis for understanding classical fluids in equilibrium and near equilibrium. The model is discussed in finite volume where, on the basis of the physical considerations, the correct scaling (for the model itself) is identified. For dimension two and above and in large volume, the equilibrium phase structure of the model is completely elucidated in (somewhat disturbing) contrast to dynamical results. This is joint work with V. Panferov.
Speaker: Bernard Chazelle, Princeton University
Title: The total S-Energy: An analytical tool for multiagent dynamics
Abstract: I discuss a new analytical device for the study of multiagent agreement systems. The "total s-energy" of an infinite sequence of graphs embedded in Euclidean space is a Dirichlet series encoding all of the edge lengths. It generalizes both the graph Laplacian and the Riesz s-energy of points on a sphere. I will discuss how analytical properties of the total s-energy leads to bounds on the convergence rates of several classical agreement systems, including opinion dynamics, synchronization, and flocking. The total s-energy draws its power from its ability to handle products of stochastic matrices algorithmically "without looking inside the matrices." This work is part of a larger project to explore the benefits of viewing dynamical systems as "natural algorithms."
Speaker: Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College
Title: Self-organized tunneling dynamics of molecular nanomagnets
Abstract: Magnetic moments of high-spin molecules can reverse their orientation through quantum tunneling [1]. Many-body quantum dynamics of crystals made of such molecules involves self-organization of magnetic dipoles, aimed at maintaining resonant tunneling condition [2]. Theory and experiments in this field will be reviewed.
1. E. M. Chudnovsky and J. Tejada, Lectures on Magnetism (Rinton Press, Princeton, 2006).
2. D. A. Garanin and E. M. Chudnovsky, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 097206 (2009).
Speaker: P. Debenedetti, Princeton University
Title: Thermodynamic and kinetic models of the appearance and amplification of biological chirality
Abstract
Speaker: Robert Ecke, Los Alamos
Title:Unstable diffusion layers: From thermal convection and material dissolution to sequestration of CO2
Abstract: TBA
Speaker: Fereydoon Family, Emory University
Title: Physics of Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Abstract: TBA
Speaker: Jerry Gollub, Haverford College
Title: Statistical Mechanics of Swimming Microorganisms
Abstract: TBA
Speaker: F.D.M. Haldane, Princeton University
Title: Dissipationless "Hall viscosity" and its relation to incompressibility of quantum Hall fluids
Abstract
Speaker: Tom Kennedy, University of Arizona
Title: Renormalization group maps for Ising models in lattice gas variables
Abstract: TBA
Speaker: Michael Kiessling, Rutgers University
Title: On the N dependence of classical and quantum N-body ground state energies
Abstract
Speaker: Paul Krapivsky, Boston University
Title: Kinetics of cell division
Abstract: TBA
Speaker: Robert Kohn, Courant Institute
Title: Surface relaxation below the roughening temperature: steps, pde's, and self-similarity
Abstract:TBA
Speaker: Herbert Levine, University of California,San Diego
Title: Information limits on eukaryotic chemotaxis
Abstract: Many types of eukaryotic cells are able to detect chemical gradients and move accordingly (Parent and Devreotes, 1999). Unlike the case for bacteria, these cells are large enough for the gradient detection to rely on differential receptor binding probabilities on the cell membrane. It is not yet understood how this noisy input data (Rappel and Levine, 2008; Endres and Wingreen, 2008) is processed by the cell to make the motion decision; thus we cannot a priori predict the detection threshold, the response kinetics and the plasticity to changing stimuli. This talk will focus on recent experimental and theoretical work (Fuller et al, submitted) which shows that at small gradients, cell performance is limited primarily by sensor noise.
REFERENCES
Speaker: Mike Lipkin, Columbia University/Katama Trading, LLC
Title: Hard-To-Borrow Stocks. Why restrictions on shorting lead to higher prices, higher volatilities, crashes and bubbles!
Abstract: Restrictions on the shorting of stocks have the paradoxical effect of increasing volatilities and prices. We demonstrate this with a simple but very rich stochastic model which reproduces market prices and allows predictions about asset bubbles as well!
Speaker: Jon Machta, University of Massachussetts
Title:Monte Carlo methods for rough free energy landscapes
Abstract: TBA
Speaker: John Marko, Northwestern University
Title: Linking topology of large DNA molecules
Abstract: Double helix DNA molecules, the carriers of genetic instructions in cells, are strongly affected by their topological properties. Two distinct and biologically important types of linking are associated with double helix DNAs: 'internal' linking of the two strands of individual double helices, and 'external' linking of separate double helix DNAs. Constraint of internal linking gives rise to internal torsional stress and supercoiling of circular DNAs. I will discuss an additional important but often ignored constraint associated with DNA supercoiling as it appears to occur in vivo. I will also discuss 'external' linking of separate double helices, which is a likely outcome of DNA replication, and which must be eliminated by the cell in order to separate duplicated DNAs. I will present an argument based on scaling laws for linking number fluctuations of flexible polymers to address how cells manage to eliminate entanglements (and knots) from their long chromosomal DNAs.
Speaker: Michael Monastyrsky,ITEP,Moscow
Title:Duality transformations for Non-Abelian Spin Systems
Abstract: The Classical Kramers Wannier(KW) Duality is a special Symmetry which relates low-temperature and high-temperature phases in the planar Ising model. Generalization of this transformation to Spin Models with non-Abelian Symmetry is essential for many problems in Statistical Physics and Field theory. In my talk I present new results which solve this problem for finite and compact groups and different two-dimensional lattices,including so called Hecke graphs.
Speaker: David Nelson, Harvard University
Title: Life at Low Reynolds Number
Abstract: As an example of life at high Reynolds number, we investigate the dynamics of the Fisher equation for the spreading of micro-organisms subject to both turbulent advection and diffusion.[1] The effective advecting velocity field turns out to be compressible in a number of important circumstances. For strong enough turbulence, bacteria, for example, track, in a quasilocalized fashion (with remarkably long persistence times), sinks in the turbulent field. An important consequence is a large reduction in the carrying capacity of the fluid medium. We analytically determine the regimes where this quasi-localized behavior occurs and test our predictions by numerical simulations.
Speaker: Charles Newman, Courant Institute
Title: Ground states of the 2D Edwards-Anderson spin glass
Coauthors: Louis-Pierre Arguin, Michael Damron, Chuck Newman*, Dan Stein
Abstract: This is joint work with Louis-Pierre Arguin, Michael Damron and Dan Stein. It is an open problem to determine the number of infinite-volume ground states in the Edwards-Anderson (nearest neighbor) spin glass model on Z^d for d ≥ 2 (with, say mean zero Gaussian couplings). This is a limiting case of the problem of determining the number of extremal Gibbs states at low temperature. In both cases, there are competing conjectures for d ≥ 3, but no complete results even for d=2. I report on new results which go some way toward proving that (with zero external field, so that ground states come in pairs, related by a global spin flip) there is only a single ground state pair (GSP). Our result is weaker in two ways: First, it applies not to the full plane Z2, but to a half-plane. Second, rather than showing that with probability one (according to the quenched random coupling realization J) there is a single GSP, we show that there is a natural joint distribution on J and GSP's such that with probability one, the conditional distribution on GSP's given J is supported on only a single GSP. The methods used are a combination of percolation-like geometric arguments together with translation invariance (in one of the two coordinate directions of the half-plane) and employ as a main tool the "excitation metastate" which is a probability measure on GSP's and on how they change as one or more individual couplings vary.
Reference: arXiv:0911.4201
Speaker: Michele Parinello, ETH, Zurich
Title: Advanced sampling methods
Abstract: TBA
Speaker: David Pine, NYU
Title: Non-equilibrium phase transitions and random ordering in driven suspensions of rods
Abstract: TBA
Speaker: Karen Rabe, Rutgers University
Title: Spin-lattice coupling in magnetic perovskite thin films and superlattices
Abstract: In the search for new ferromagnetic-ferroelectric multiferroic materials, one key challenge is to maximize the coupling between the magnetization and the ferroelectric polarization. In this talk, I will briefly review several mechanisms by which such coupling can occur, and present first-principles results for prototypical systems. First, I will discuss the large spin-phonon coupling in SrMnO3. First principles calculations show that this coupling results in an epitaxial-strain-induced ferromagnetic-ferroelectric state. This occurs by the mechanism introduced earlier for EuTiO3, though in SrMnO3, with magnetic ions on the B site, the magnetic and ferroelectric phases persist to much higher temperatures. Next, I will discuss the spinel-structure oxide CdCr2O4 and the perovskite BiMnO3/BiFeO3 nanocheckerboard, in which magnetic frustration in principle allows perturbations that change the structure to drive phase transitions in magnetic ordering. Finally, I will present preliminary results on ferroelectrically-induced weak ferromagnetism in perovskite superlattices identified via the crystal-chemical/symmetry criteria proposed by Craig Fennie.
Speaker: Vered Rom-Kedar, Weizmann Institute
Title: Models of the innate immune system: theory and medical implications
Abstract: Simple models of the innate immune system teach us much about the development of infections when the bone-marrow function is damaged by chemotherapy. The results depend only on robust properties of the underlying modeling assumptions and not on the detailed models. Moreover, such models may lead to improved treatment strategies for neutropenic patients [1,2,3].
1. R. Malka, E. Shochat and V. Rom-Kedar; Bistability and Bacterial Infections. PLoS ONE, 2010, to appear.
2. E. Shochat and V. Rom-Kedar; Novel strategies for G-CSF treatment of high-risk severe neutropenia suggested by mathematical modeling, Clinical Cancer Research 14, 6354-6363, October 15, 2008.
3. E. Shochat, V. Rom-Kedar and L. Segel; G-CSF control of neutrophils dynamics in the blood, Bull. Math. Biology , 69(7), 2299-2338, 2007.
Speaker: James Sethna, Cornell University
Coauthors: Y.S. Chen, W. Choi and S. Papanikolaou
Title: Bending Crystals: The evolution of self-similar dislocation structures
Abstract: TBA
Speaker: Eugene Shaknovich, Harvard University
Title: Dynamics of evolution and adaptation:Insights from ab initio multiscale models
Abstract: TBA
Speaker: David Vanderbilt, Rutgers University
Title: Orbital magnetoelectric effects and topological insulators
Abstract: I will discuss two kinds of topological insulators. First, a "Chern insulator" is one in which the "Chern number," defined in terms of the integral of the Berry curvature over the Brillouin zone, is non-zero. Such a system is also known as a "quantum Hall insulator" because it would exhibit a quantum Hall effect in the absence of a magnetic field (possibly at room temperature). While no examples are yet known to exist in nature, theoretical models of Chern insulators are readily constructed (Haldane first did so two decades ago [1]), and there is no known reason why they should not exist. I shall mention some of our earlier work on the properties of such prospective Chern insulators [2-3], and speculate about prospects for discovering experimental realizations. Second, there has been a great deal of interest recently in another kind of topological insulator, the so-called "Z2-odd" insulator. Such a system can be conceptualized by imagining that a spin-up system of electrons having Chern number $+1$ coexists with a spin-down system having Chern number $-1$ in such a way that the system as a whole has total Chern number zero and obeys time-reversal (T) symmetry. Even when the spin-orbit interaction is turned on, the system carries a topological even-or-odd (Z2) label. Almost all known insulators are Z2-even, but great excitement has surrounded the recent realization that some materials, such as Bi(x)Sb(1-x) [4], Bi2Te3 [5], and related systems, are Z2-odd. We have developed a theory of the orbital contribution to the linear magnetoelectric effect (or equivalently, to the surface Hall conductivity) in magnetoelectric insulators having broken T symmetry [6]. The theory exhibits many attractive analogies to the theory of polarization, and involves a higher-order kind of Chern index than the one discussed above. Interestingly, our theory predicts that an insulator with T symmetry need not have a vanishing magnetoelectric coupling; instead, precisely in the case of a Z2-odd insulator, it must have a half-quantum value (see also [7]). Essentially this means that the surface of a Z2-odd topological insulator, if it is gapped by a T-breaking perturbation, will exhibit a half-integer quantum Hall effect.
1. F.D.M. Haldane, Phys. Rev. Lett. 61, 2015 (1988).
2. T. Thonhauser and D. Vanderbilt, Phys. Rev. B 74, 235111 (2006).
3. S. Coh and D. Vanderbilt, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 107603 (2009).
4. D. Hsieh et al., Nature 452, 970 (2008).
5. Y.L. Chen et al., http://arxiv.org/abs/0904.1829.
6. A.M. Essin, J.E. Moore, and D. Vanderbilt, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 146805 (2009).
7. X.L. Qi, T.L. Hughes and S.-C. Zhang, Phys. Rev. B 78, 195424 (2008).
Speaker: David Weitz, Harvard University
Title: Fast Crystals and Strong Glasses
Abstract: This talk presents new results for colloidal crystals and glasses. By investigating the morphology of crystal nuclei, we establish the importance of an entropic term in the free energy reflecting the number of morphologies of the nuclei. This modifies the nucleation rate, and accounts for the much faster rate of nucleation observed experimentally when compared to predictions. We also show that the behavior of deformable colloidal particles is reminiscent of molecular glasses with different structures, mimicking the range of fragilities reported for molecular systems.
Speaker: Victor Yakovenko, University of Maryland, College Park
Title: Statistical Mechanics of Money, Income, and Wealth
Abstract: This talk will review the progress in applications of statistical physics to probability distributions of money, income, and wealth in a society [1]. Using analogy between the probability distributions of energy in physics and money in economics, I argue that the distribution of money should follow the exponential Boltzmann-Gibbs law for certain classes of models with interacting economic agents [2]. Analysis of the empirical data shows that income distribution in the USA has a well-defined two-class structure [3]. The majority of the population (about 97%) belongs to the lower class characterized by the exponential ("thermal") distribution [4]. The upper class (about 3% of the population) has the Pareto power-law ("superthermal") distribution, whose share of the total income expands and contracts dramatically following the bubbles and busts in financial markets [5]. When debt is included in the statistical models, it destabilizes the Boltzmann-Gibbs distribution in the absence of an intrinsic mechanism for limiting debt [1]. As a result, the nominal wealth growth of the upper class largely comes from the debt growth of the lower class, until the economy collapses under the burden of excessive debt. I will also briefly discuss the distribution of energy consumption per capita around the world and show that it also follows the exponential Boltzmann-Gibbs law [6]. The data show how globalization of the world economy affects the inequality of energy consumption. More references can be found at the Web site [7].
References
1. V. M. Yakovenko and J. B. Rosser, Jr., "Colloquium: Statistical Mechanics of Money, Wealth, and Income", Reviews of Modern Physics 81 (2009) 1703.
2. A. Dragulescu and V. M. Yakovenko, "Statistical mechanics of money", The European Physical Journal B 17 (2000) 723.
3. A. Dragulescu and V. M. Yakovenko, "Exponential and power-law probability distributions of wealth and income in the United Kingdom and the United States", Physica A 299 (2001) 213.
4. A. Dragulescu and V. M. Yakovenko, "Evidence for the exponential distribution of income in the USA", The European Physical Journal B 20 (2001) 585.
5. A. C. Silva and V. M. Yakovenko, "Temporal evolution of the 'thermal' and 'superthermal' income classes in the USA during 1983-2001", Europhysics Letters 69 (2005) 304.
6. A. Banerjee and V. M. Yakovenko, "Universal patterns of inequality", submitted to New Journal of Physics, arXiv:0912.4898.
7. Econophysics Web page of Victor Yakovenko, http://www2.physics.umd.edu/~yakovenk/econophysics/