Programmable pattern formation in systems of communicating subunits (A03)

• Subject Area: Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics
• Term: from 2012 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 201269156

We focus on the question of how systems consisting of communicating subunits (referred to as `cells’), with fixed spatial arrangements, can form different patterns in a programmable way. Experimentally, such systems can be on the molecular scale, e.g. DNA-based, or on the scale of cell-sized compartments. For our theoretical investigation, we assume that the cells have discrete internal states, and are able to perform simple local information-processing operations, the effects of which can be described in the framework of cellular automata models.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1032: Nanoagents for Spatio-temporal Control of Molecular and Cellular Reactions
• Applicant Institution: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Ulrich Gerland