Bridging worlds: Physics problems in the phenomena of life
In the nineteenth century, the phenomena of life were seen as challenges
to our understanding of physics itself. In the twentieth century the view
shifted, and we were to said to be “applying the methods of physics to the
problem of biology.” In the twenty-first century there has been a
rediscovery of life as a source of deep physics questions, across all scales:
the quantum dynamics of energy harvesting in photosynthesis, the ability of
cells and organisms to make precise decisions in the face of irreducible
physical noise sources, collective behavior in flocks of birds, the
emergence of computation and even intelligence from networks of neurons,
and more. I will give a brief survey of these exciting developments, and
then dig into the common physical principles for the flow of information in
genetic and neural networks.
