Statistical Physics for Biological Matter

Description

This book aims to cover a broad range of topics in statistical physics, including statistical mechanics (equilibrium and non-equilibrium), soft matter and fluid physics, for applications to biological phenomena at both cellular and macromolecular levels. It is intended to be a graduate level textbook, but can also be addressed to the interested senior level undergraduate. The book is written also for those involved in research on biological systems or soft matter based on physics, particularly on statistical physics. Typical statistical physics courses cover ideal gases (classical and quantum) and interacting units of simple structures. In contrast, even simple biological fluids are solutions of macromolecules, the structures of which are very complex. The goal of this book to fill this wide gap by providing appropriate content as well as by explaining the theoretical method that typifies good modeling, namely, the method of coarse-grained descriptions that extract the most salient features emerging at mesoscopic scales. The major topics covered in this book include thermodynamics, equilibrium statistical mechanics, soft matter physics of polymers and membranes, non-equilibrium statistical physics covering stochastic processes, transport phenomena and hydrodynamics. Generic methods and theories are described with detailed derivations, followed by applications and examples in biology. The book aims to help the readers build, systematically and coherently through basic principles, their own understanding of nonspecific concepts and theoretical methods, which they may be able to apply to a broader class of biological problems. Front Matter ....Pages i-xxiii Introduction: Biological Systems and Physical Approaches (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 1-6 Basic Concepts of Relevant Thermodynamics and Thermodynamic Variables (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 7-23 Basic Methods of Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 25-49 Statistical Mechanics of Fluids and Solutions (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 51-73 Coarse-Grained Description: Mesoscopic States, Effective Hamiltonian and Free Energy Functions (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 75-79 Water and Biologically-Relevant Interactions (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 81-102 Law of Chemical Forces: Transitions, Reactions, and Self-assemblies (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 103-119 The Lattice and Ising Models (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 121-142 Responses, Fluctuations, Correlations and Scatterings (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 143-159 Mesoscopic Models of Polymers: Flexible Chains (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 161-194 Mesoscopic Models of Polymers: Semi-flexible Chains and Polyelectrolytes (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 195-217 Membranes and Elastic Surfaces (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 219-239 Brownian Motions (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 241-268 Stochastic Processes, Markov Chains and Master Equations (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 269-289 Theory of Markov Processes and the Fokker-Planck Equations (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 291-311 The Mean-First Passage Times and Barrier Crossing Rates (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 313-325 Dynamic Linear Responses and Time Correlation Functions (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 327-346 Noise-Induced Resonances: Stochastic Resonance, Resonant Activation, and Stochastic Ratchets (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 347-362 Transport Phenomena and Fluid Dynamics (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 363-390 Dynamics of Polymers and Membranes in Fluids (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 391-421 Epilogue (Wokyung Sung)....Pages 423-426 Back Matter ....Pages 427-435