This award supports theoretical research and education in statistical mechanics of systems far from equilibrium. The research studies condensed matter and biological systems that are out of equilibrium by virtue of open boundaries and nontrivial fluxes of energy or matter.
This research addresses systems that cannot be properly described within, or as a perturbation about, the traditional equilibrium Boltzmann-Gibbs framework. For such systems there is no comprehensive framework for non-equilibrium phenomena and its formulation is one of the key challenges of modern statistical physics. Cognizant of the larger goal to gain fundamental understanding of the physics of nonequilibrium systems, the researchers will undertake studies ranging from the simplest models to complex living systems and employ analytic and computational approaches.
The PIs will study tractable paradigmatic models far from equilibrium, i.e. asymmetric exclusion processes and generalized mass transport models. With some added complexity, these models become the building blocks for a quantitative analysis of an important biological process, namely, protein production from mRNA. This process forms a key component of overall cellular metabolic activity, and understanding the relation between environmental conditions and cellular growth rates constitutes a central problem in the life sciences. Mindful of fundamental issues in non-equilibrium statistical physics, the PIs will exploit the stationary distributions of probability currents (in configuration space) as the basis for a very general classification scheme for non-equilibrium steady states. The PIs' findings from minimal models and application-driven studies will serve as case studies to probe this framework. Its full implications will be explored systematically.
NONTECHNICAL SUMMARY: This award supports theoretical research and education in statistical mechanics of systems out of equilibrium. Part of this research lies at the interface of condensed matter physics and biology; it is intrinsically interdisciplinary. The research is motivated by many examples in nature, but addresses condensed matter and biological systems that are out of equilibrium. In particular, living systems undergo the continuous processes that support life because there is a continuous input of energy. Whether we call this food or metabolism or just leave it abstract, it is a key to the development of complex systems and structures or behaviors in systems that are out of equilibrium.
This research undertakes studies ranging from the simplest models to complex living systems and employs analytic and computational approaches. A special interest in cellular level repetitious processes, such as protein production by messenger RNA will be studied with mathematical models of assembly line-type activities that have the randomness of nature built into them. Insights can be seen into simple biological processes. Though emphasizing models and biological systems, the researchers have experience connecting this type of transport to a wide range of systems, from traffic flow to information on the Internet. The way the research is structured lends itself well to the education at virtually all levels and this award contributes to the education of the globally competitive workforce next generation.
