Field theoretic formulation and empirical tracking of spatial processes

Spatial processes are attacked on two fronts. On the one hand, tools from theoretical and statistical physics can be used to understand behaviour in complex, spatially-extended multi-body systems. On the other hand, computer vision and statistical analysis can be used to study 4D microscopy data to observe and understand real spatial processes in vivo. On the rst of these fronts, analytical models are developed for abstract processes, which can be simulated on graphs and lattices before considering real-world applications in elds such as biology, epidemiology or ecology. In the eld theoretic formulation of spatial processes, techniques originating in quantum eld theory such as canonical quantisation and the renormalization group are applied to reaction-di usion processes by analogy. These techniques are combined in the study of critical phenomena or critical dynamics. At this level, one is often interested in the scaling behaviour; how the correlation functions scale for di erent dimensions in geometric space. This can lead to a better understanding of how macroscopic patterns relate to microscopic interactions. In this vein, the trace of a branching random walk on various graphs is studied. In the thesis, a distinctly abstract approach is emphasised in order to support an algorithmic approach to parts of the formalism. A model of self-organised criticality, the Abelian sandpile model, is also considered. By exploiting a bijection between recurrent con gurations and spanning trees, an e cient Monte Carlo algorithm is developed to simulate sandpile processes on large lattices. On the second front, two case studies are considered; migratory patterns of leukaemia cells and mitotic events in Arabidopsis roots. In the rst case, tools from statistical physics are used to study the spatial dynamics of di erent leukaemia cell lineages before and after a treatment. One key result is that we can discriminate between migratory patterns in response to treatment, classifying cell motility in terms of sup/super/di usive regimes. For the second case study, a novel algorithm is developed to processes a 4D light-sheet microscopy dataset. The combination of transient uorescent markers and a poorly localised specimen in the eld of view leads to a challenging tracking problem. A fuzzy registration-tracking algorithm is developed to track mitotic events so as to understand their spatiotemporal dynamics under normal conditions and after tissue damage.Open Acces

Maximal Newton points and the quantum Bruhat graph

We discuss a surprising relationship between the partially ordered set of Newton points associated to an affine Schubert cell and the quantum cohomology of the complex flag variety. The main theorem provides a combinatorial formula for the unique maximum element in this poset in terms of paths in the quantum Bruhat graph, whose vertices are indexed by elements in the finite Weyl group. Key to establishing this connection is the fact that paths in the quantum Bruhat graph encode saturated chains in the strong Bruhat order on the affine Weyl group. This correspondence is also fundamental in the work of Lam and Shimozono establishing Peterson's isomorphism between the quantum cohomology of the finite flag variety and the homology of the affine Grassmannian. One important geometric application of the present work is an inequality which provides a necessary condition for non-emptiness of certain affine Deligne-Lusztig varieties in the affine flag variety.Comment: 39 pages, 4 figures best viewed in color; final version to appear in Michigan Math.