E-Book Overview
The 1997 Les Houches workshop on "Dynamical Network in Physics and Biology" was the third in a series of meetings "At the Frontier between Physics and Biology". Our objective with these workshops is to create a truly interdisciplinary forum for researchers working on outstanding problems in biology, but using different approaches (physical, chemical or biological). Generally speaking, the biologists are trained in the particular and motivated by the specifics, while, in contrast, the physicists deal with generic and "universal" models. All agree about the necessity of developing "robust" models. The specific aim of the workshop was to bridge the gap between physics and biology in the particular field of interconnected dynamical networks. The proper functioning of a living organism of any complexity requires the coordinated activity of a great number of "units". Units, or, in physical terms, degrees of freedom that couple to one another, typically form networks. The physical or biological properties of interconnected networks may drastically differ from those of the individual units: the whole is not simply an assembly of its parts, as can be demonstrated by the following examples. Above a certain (critical) concentration the metallic islands, randomly distributed in an insulating matrix, form an interconnected network. At this point the macroscopic conductivity of the system becomes finite and the amorphous metal is capable of carrying current. The value of the macroscopic conductivity typically is very different from the conductivity of the individual metallic islands.
E-Book Content
DYNAMICAL NETWORKS IN PHYSICS AND BIOLOGY At the Frontier of Physics and Biology Les Houches Workshop, March 17-21, 1997 Editors D.BEYSENS G. FORGACS EDP Sciences 7, avenue du Haggar Parc d'Activites de Caurtab(J!uj BP.112 91944 Les Viis Cedex A, France EDP Sciences 875-81 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139, VSA Springer-Verlag France S.A.R.L Centre de Physique des Bouches Books already published in this series 1 Porous Silicon Science and Technology 2 3 4 J.-c. VIAL and J. DERRIEN, Eds. 1995 Nonlinear Excitations in Biomolecules M. PEYRARD, Ed. 1995 Beyond Quasicrystals F. AXEL and D. GRATIAS, Eds. 1995 Quantum Mechanical Simulation Methods for Studying Biological Systems D. BICOUT and M. FIELD, Eds. 1996 5 New Tools in Turbulence Modelling 7 Scale Invariance and Beyond B. DUBRULLE, F. GRANER and D. SORNETTE, Eds. 1997 8 New Non-Perturbative Methods and Quantization on the Light Cone P. GRANGE, A. NEVEU, H.c. PAULI, S. PINSKY and E. WERNER, Eds 1998 9 Starbursts Triggers, Nature, and Evolution B. GUIDERDONI and A. KEMBHAVI, Eds 1998 O. METAlS and J. FERZIGER, Eds. 1997 6 Catalysis by Metals A. J. RENOUPREZ and H. JOBIC, Eds. 1997 Book series coordinated by Michele LEDUC Editors of "Dynamical Networks in Physics and Biology" (N° 10) D. Beysens (CEA, Grenoble, France) G. Forgacs (Clarkson University, Potsdam, USA) ISBN 978-3-540-65349-3 ISBN 978-3-662-03524-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-03524-5 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is only permitted under the provisions of the French and German Copyright laws of March 11,1957 and September 9,1965, respectively. Violations fall underthe prosecution act of the French and German Copyright Laws. © Springer-Verlag France 1998 Originally published by EDP Sciences, Les Viis; Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg New York in 1998. P