Berlin 2018 – scientific programme

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 45: Statistical Physics in Biological Systems (joint session DY/BP)

DY 45.1: Talk

Wednesday, March 14, 2018, 10:00–10:15, BH-N 333

Fluctuation effects in single-molecule dynamics: From sub-ergodic time-scales to the kinetics in the few-encounter limit — Alessio Lapolla, David Hartich, and •Aljaz Godec — Mathematical Biophysics Group, Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (Göttingen)

Single-molecule (SM) dynamics evade the confines of traditional ensemble statistical mechanics. A correct theoretical description of SM dynamics requires a time-average statistical mechanics – the explicit consideration of trajectory-to-trajectory fluctuations over finite observation times. Similarly, a new paradigm emerges when considering molecular reaction kinetics in the few-encounter limit occurring, e.g. in transcription regulation or in diseases triggered by protein misfolding, where already the first reactive event is ’catastrophic’.

We will review our recent theoretical results on a rigorous formulation of occupation-time statistical mechanics, and a first passage time theory of few-encounter kinetics. We will discuss why our results are relevant for explaining quantitatively emerging biophysical phenomena at low-copy numbers.