Complex Systems Studies

"Ambitions for theory in the physics of life" (by William Bialek): https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.15538

[note: Lectures at the 2023 Les Houches Summer School, Theoretical Biophysics]

Theoretical physicists have been fascinated by the phenomena of life for more than a century. As we engage with more realistic descriptions of living systems, however, things get complicated. After reviewing different reactions to this complexity, I explore the optimization of information flow as a potentially general theoretical principle. The primary example is a genetic network guiding development of the fly embryo, but each idea also is illustrated by examples from neural systems. In each case, optimization makes detailed, largely parameter-free predictions that connect quantitatively with experiment

arXiv.org

Ambitions for theory in the physics of life

Theoretical physicists have been fascinated by the phenomena of life for more than a century. As we engage with more realistic descriptions of living systems, however, things get complicated....

www.tgoop.com/ComplexSys/5644

1.78K viewsedited  Jan 30, 2024 at 11:45

"Ambitions for theory in the physics of life" (by William Bialek): https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.15538

[note: Lectures at the 2023 Les Houches Summer School, Theoretical Biophysics]

Theoretical physicists have been fascinated by the phenomena of life for more than a century. As we engage with more realistic descriptions of living systems, however, things get complicated. After reviewing different reactions to this complexity, I explore the optimization of information flow as a potentially general theoretical principle. The primary example is a genetic network guiding development of the fly embryo, but each idea also is illustrated by examples from neural systems. In each case, optimization makes detailed, largely parameter-free predictions that connect quantitatively with experiment

BY Complex Systems Studies