APMA 1940L: Mathematical Models in Biophysics

Spring semester 2016

This is a senior seminar course for students in Applied Mathematics but is also
open to interested graduate and undergraduate students with corresponding backgrounds.
Biophysics is a broad heading that covers many topics. The goal of this course is
to introduce the main themes: blood flow, motion of cells in suspension such as bacteria
and the response of cells to chemical signals. These will be framed in the context of their
physical characteristics. In the process, we will discuss several basic topics: introduction
fluid dynamics, diffusion, enzyme kinetics, topics in systems biology, asymptotic
methods, estimating model parameters and use of numerical simulations. The goal is to
show how mathematical models can be developed and used to understand ways in which
specific processes interact and to compare results with experimental observations.
Blood flow
Pulsating flow in a blood vessel; flow in branching tubes and the arterial tree; the
structure of blood vessels, the components of blood; blood platelets, platelet aggregation
and formation of blood clots.
Bacteria cells
Physiology of bacteria, how can a bacterium swim in a viscous fluid? Over the
long term, motile cells execute a random walk but on average respond to nutrient
gradients or other stimuli and exhibit chemotaxis. Cells may release chemical signals that
lead to quorum sensing and a collective response. Formation of bacterial bio-films.
The course will start with structured lectures and assignments. Later, the course
will shift towards the development of student projects building on the topics covered or
other related topics. The course is open-ended and student participation will help build
the course.
Grades will be based on the assignments and final projects.
There is no required textbook. A list of references will be provided and material
made available through Canvas or the Science Library Course Reserve. Some references
overlap textbooks used for other courses at Brown.
Instructor:

Professor Martin Maxey

Martin_maxey@brown.edu

Scheduled meeting time: Tues/Thurs 9.00 10.20 am; B&H 159