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September 30
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    September 30, 2021

    CMSA Active Matter Seminar: Cytoskeletal Energetics and Energy Metabolism

    1:00 PM-2:00 PM
    September 30, 2021
    Life is a nonequilibrium phenomenon. Metabolism provides a continuous flux of energy that dictates the form and function of many subcellular structures. These subcellular structures are active materials, composed of molecules which use chemical energy to perform mechanical work and locally violate detailed balance. One of the most dramatic examples of such a self-organizing structure is the spindle, the cytoskeletal based assembly which segregates chromosomes during cell division. Despite its central role, very little is known about the nonequilibrium thermodynamics of active subcellular matter, such as the spindle. In this talk, I will describe ongoing work from my lab aimed at understanding the flows of energy which drive the nonequilibrium behaviors of the cytoskeleton in vitro and in vivo.
    *rescheduled from 9/16/21

    Geometric Set Theory

    4:30 PM-5:30 PM
    September 30, 2021
    Science Center Hall A
    1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

    The field of Geometric Set Theory studies structures on sets of countable objects (typically Polish spaces) by considering virtual objects, typically uncountable sets representing members of the space under consideration in some larger model of set theory. This approach can be used to study analytic equivalence relations on Polish spaces, where the virtual objects represent equivalence classes. The representatives of the virtual classes can be used for instance to prove non-reducibility results between such equivalence relations. Another set of applications involves separating forms of the Axiom of Choice, specifically forms asserting the existence of a set of reals with certain first order properties. Typical examples include Vitali sets, Hamel bases, discontinuous homomorphisms on the real line or countable colorings of various graphs on Euclidean space. We will give a brief tour of some of the landmarks in the area, and discuss some directions for further research.