Dilation of a class of quantum dynamical semigroups

Hudson-Parthasarathy (H-P) type quantum stochastic dilation of a class of C0 semigroups of completely positive maps (quantum dynamical or Markov semigroups) on a von Neumann or C* algebra, with unbounded generators, is constructed under some assumptions on the semigroup and its generator. The assumption of symmetry with respect to a semifinite trace allows the use of Hilbert space techniques,while that of covariance with respect to an action of a Lie group on the algebra gives a better control on the domain of the generator. A dilation of the dynamical semigroup is obtained, under some further assumptions on the domain of the generator, with the help of a conjugation by a unitary quantum stochastic process satisfying Hudson-Parthasarathy equation in Fock space

Dilation of a class of quantum dynamical semigroups

Hudson-Parthasarathy (H-P) type quantum stochastic dilation of a class of C0 semigroups of completely positive maps (quantum dynamical or Markov semigroups) on a von Neumann or C* algebra, with unbounded generators, is constructed under some assumptions on the semigroup and its generator. The assumption of symmetry with respect to a semifinite trace allows the use of Hilbert space techniques,while that of covariance with respect to an action of a Lie group on the algebra gives a better control on the domain of the generator. A dilation of the dynamical semigroup is obtained, under some further assumptions on the domain of the generator, with the help of a conjugation by a unitary quantum stochastic process satisfying Hudson-Parthasarathy equation in Fock space

Intra-cellular transport of single-headed molecular motors KIF1A

Motivated by experiments on single-headed kinesin KIF1A, we develop a model of intra-cellular transport by interacting molecular motors. It captures explicitly not only the effects of ATP hydrolysis, but also the ratchet mechanism which drives individual motors. Our model accounts for the experimentally observed single molecule properties in the low density limit and also predicts a phase diagram that shows the influence of hydrolysis and Langmuir kinetics on the collective spatio-temporal organization of the motors. Finally, we provide experimental evidence for the existence of domain walls in our {\it in-vitro} experiment with fluorescently labeled KIF1A.Comment: 4 pages, REVTEX, 5 EPS figures; Accepted for Publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Dynamic instability of microtubules: effect of catastrophe-suppressing drugs

Microtubules are stiff filamentary proteins that constitute an important component of the cytoskeleton of cells. These are known to exhibit a dynamic instability. A steadily growing microtubule can suddenly start depolymerizing very rapidly; this phenomenon is known as ``catastrophe''. However, often a shrinking microtubule is ``rescued'' and starts polymerizing again. Here we develope a model for the polymerization-depolymerization dynamics of microtubules in the presence of {\it catastrophe-suppressing drugs}. Solving the dynamical equations in the steady-state, we derive exact analytical expressions for the length distributions of the microtubules tipped with drug-bound tubulin subunits as well as those of the microtubules, in the growing and shrinking phases, tipped with drug-free pure tubulin subunits. We also examine the stability of the steady-state solutions.Comment: Minor corrections; final published versio

Competition of coarsening and shredding of clusters in a driven diffusive lattice gas

We investigate a driven diffusive lattice gas model with two oppositely moving species of particles. The model is motivated by bi-directional traffic of ants on a pre-existing trail. A third species, corresponding to pheromones used by the ants for communication, is not conserved and mediates interactions between the particles. Here we study the spatio-temporal organization of the particles. In the uni-directional variant of this model it is known to be determined by the formation and coarsening of ``loose clusters''. For our bi-directional model, we show that the interaction of oppositely moving clusters is essential. In the late stages of evolution the cluster size oscillates because of a competition between their `shredding' during encounters with oppositely moving counterparts and subsequent "coarsening" during collision-free evolution. We also establish a nontrivial dependence of the spatio-temporal organization on the system size

A two-state model for helicase translocation and unwinding of nucleic acids

Helicases are molecular motors that unwind double-stranded nucleic acids (dsNA), such as DNA and RNA). Typically a helicase translocates along one of the NA single strands while unwinding and uses adenosine triphosphate (ATP) hydrolysis as an energy source. Here we model of a helicase motor that can switch between two states, which could represent two different points in the ATP hydrolysis cycle. Our model is an extension of the earlier Betterton-J\"ulicher model of helicases to incorporate switching between two states. The main predictions of the model are the speed of unwinding of the dsNA and fluctuations around the average unwinding velocity. Motivated by a recent claim that the NS3 helicase of Hepatitis C virus follows a flashing ratchet mechanism, we have compared the experimental results for the NS3 helicase with a special limit of our model which corresponds to the flashing ratchet scenario. Our model accounts for one key feature of the experimental data on NS3 helicase. However, contradictory observations in experiments carried out under different conditions limit the ability to compare the model to experiments.Comment: minor modification