posted on 2017-07-06, 15:29authored byT. R. Robinson, E. Haven, A. M. Fry
The set of natural numbers may be identified with the spectrum
of eigenvalues of an operator (quantum counting), and the dynamical
equations of populations of discrete, countable items may be formulated
using operator methods. These equations take the form of time
dependent operator equations, involving Hamiltonian operators, from
which the statistical time dependence of population numbers may be
determined. The quantum operator method is illustrated by a novel
approach to cell population dynamics. This involves Hamiltonians
that mimic the process of stimulated cell division. We evaluate two
different models, one in which the stimuli are expended in the division
process and one in which the stimuli act as true catalysts. While
the former model exhibits only bounded cell population variations,
the latter exhibits two distinct regimes; one has bounded population
fluctuations about a mean level and in the other, the population can
undergo growth to levels that are orders of magnitude above threshold
levels, through an instability that could be interpreted as a cancerous
growth phase.
Funding
AMF is funded by Worldwide Cancer Research.
History
Citation
Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, 2017
Author affiliation
/Organisation/COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING/Department of Physics and Astronomy
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