Daniel Sussman, Sycrause University
Abstract:
Dense biological tissues and cellular aggregates display a rich variety of complex, non-equilibrium phenomena. For example, recent experiments have suggested that confluent cellular monolayers may lie close to a collective rigidity transition controlled not by density but by the shapes of the cells. Motivated by such results, I will explore the theoretical predictions that a broad class of shape-based models for dense tissue make for the behavior of cells in the bulk and at tissue boundaries. These predictions - such as anomalous tissue surface tension at the boundary between different cell types - often differ by orders of magnitude from na'ive expectations, and may be understood via a combination of geometrical and topological considerations. I will discuss the relevance of the predicted surface phenomenon for processes such as cell sorting and compartmentalization, and compare with experimental results.
Flyer PDF: sussman._daniel_physics_flyer.pdf
