Fall 2013 Physics Colloquium

September 13; MATH 501, 4pm

NOTE SPECIAL TIME AND LOCATION

Alex Mogilner
University of California, Davis

Many-body problem of classical mechanics and physics of cell division

Prior to cell division, chromosomes are segregated by mitotic spindle. This molecular machine self-assembles remarkably fast and accurately by an elegant force balance in which a few tens of chromosomes both attract and repel to centrosomes, while the centrosomes also repel each other. The open question - how does this balance of forces maintains the proper spindle configuration - leads to a difficult many-body problem of classical mechanics. I will show how computer simulation, soltions of integro-partial differential equations and experimental microscopy, combined, help to solve this question. I will also show how mathematical modeling contributes to understanding abnormal division of cancer cells with multiple centrosomes.