Regensburg 2025 – scientific programme

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 24: Focus Session: Broken Symmetries in Statistical Physics - Dynamics of Odd Systems

DY 24.10: Talk

Wednesday, March 19, 2025, 17:45–18:00, H43

Chirality and symmetry breaking in Dictyostelium Discoideum: Probing odd dynamics in cellular behavior — •Fereydoon Taheri — IMSEAM, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

The interplay between chirality and symmetry breaking is a fundamental aspect of many biological systems, and Dictyostelium discoideum offers a unique model to explore these phenomena. This bacteria-guzzling amoeba that lives in soil, serves as a powerful model organism for studying fundamental cellular processes such as cell-cell signalling, collective movement, and self-organization in multicellular complexes. In this study, we present an in-depth investigation into the motility patterns of D. discoideum, with a focus on the inherent chirality observed during intercellular interactions. By analyzing the off-diagonal components of the diffusion tensor, we connect this chirality to asymmetries in the velocity correlation function. These off-diagonal terms capture the coupling between orthogonal velocity components, providing a quantitative measure of non-reciprocal motion and breaking of time-reversal symmetry. Our analysis reveals that these contributions are directly linked to chiral trajectories and it is not merely a byproduct of individual behavior but plays a functional role in mediating the efficiency and directionality of cell-cell communication influencing both individual and collective behaviors during aggregation and morphogenesis.

Keywords: Chirality; Odd dynamics; Velocity autocorrelation function; Diffusion tensor; Collective movement