Abstract: The talk is about the dynamics of a motif that is frequently found in genetic networks, where it occurs in various realizations. We compare the results of a deterministic and a fully stochastic description. We then study the role of inherent time scales on the bifurcation diagram in a coarse-grained description, starting from the genetic level. When we couple these units, we analyze the effect of frustrated interaction bonds; here the notion of frustration will be introduced in analogy to spin systems. Finally we shall summarize some ongoing work.

 

About the Speaker: Over years after PhD thesis in particle physics, Dr. Hildegard Meyer-Ortmanns worked on applications of statistical physics to particle physics and analyzed the phase structure of quantum chromodynamics and the electroweak part of the standard model. Since about ten years she switched to the statistical physics of complex networks with applications that are often inspired by biology. The applications concern synchronization, percolation, and mass transport problems. Dr. Hildegard Meyer-Ortmanns is particularly interested in the role of noise and frustration in biological networks. After the PhD at DESY in Hamburg she had post-doc positions in Munich, Zürich and Heidelberg. Since 2012 she has a full professorship at Jacobs University in Bremen (Germany).