Shape-dependent bounds on cell growth rates

Shape-dependent bounds on cell growth rates

I consider how cell shape and environmental geometry affect the rate of nutrient capture and the consequent maximum growth rate of a cell, focusing on rod-like species like E. coli. Simple modeling immediately implies that it is the elongated profiles of such cells that allows for them to grow – as observed – at exponential rates in nutrient-rich media. Growth is strongly suppressed when nutrie...

Extremal Bounds on Drift Wave Growth Rates and Transport

Upper bounds on oarsening rates

Upper bounds on mixing rates

We prove upper bounds on the rate, called ”mixing rate”, at which the von Neumann entropy of the expected density operator of a given ensemble of states changes under nonlocal unitary evolution. For an ensemble consisting of two states, with probabilities of p and 1 − p, we prove that the mixing rate is bounded above by 4 √ p(1− p) for any Hamiltonian of norm 1. For a general ensemble of states...

Shape-Dependent Optoelectronic Cell Lysis**

We show an electrical method to break open living cells amongst a population of different cell types, where cell selection is based upon their shape. We implement the technique on an optoelectronic platform, where light, focused onto a semiconductor surface from a video projector creates a reconfigurable pattern of electrodes. One can choose the area of cells to be lysed in real-time, from sing...