[This is the old program from WS 2008/09. The current program and contact information can be found here.]

17 October 2008, 16:00

Sergio Alonso (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Berlin)
Effective medium theory for heterogeneous reaction-diffusion systems [Abstract] 

31 October 2008, 16:00

Tetsuo Ueda (Research Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido University, Japan)
Nonlinear processes in Physarum: Towards an understanding of the cellular behavioral intelligence [Abstract] 

14 November 2008, 16:00

Alain Karma (Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, USA)
Spatiotemporal patterns of voltage and calcium signaling in heart cells and tissue  

Abstract:
Sudden cardiac arrest due to electromechanical wave turbulence in the main chambers of the heart--known medically as ventricular fibrillation--is the leading cause of mortality among industrialized nations. Many studies have been devoted to understand this turbulence within the modern paradigm of high frequency spiral waves. However a central question remains: what causes this turbulence to occur suddenly after tens to hundreds of millions of normal beats? This talk will review experimental and theoretical progress made in understanding complex spatiotemporal patterns of voltage and calcium oscillations on cellular and tissue scales that render the heart susceptible to the onset of wave turbulence. Results will illustrate how both physiologically detailed and abstract mathematical models have proven useful to cope with the bewildering molecular complexity of cardiac biology and to understand how these arrhythmogenic patterns form and how they can be controlled to prevent lethal arrhythmias.

21 November 2008, 16:00

Alexander V. Panfilov (Department of Theoretical Biology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
Modeling mechano-electric feedback in the heart using reaction-diffusion mechanics systems [Abstract] 

28 November 2008, 16:00

Karsten Peters (Institut für Wirtschaft und Verkehr, Technische Universität Dresden)
Structural properties of functional networks in biological and technical systems [Abstract] 

05 December 2008, 16:00 Haber-Villa

Takao Ohta (Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Japan)
External forcing and feedback control of nonlinear dissipative waves [Abstract] 

13 February 2009, 16:00

Frank Spahn (LS Nichtlineare Dynamik, Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Universität Potsdam)
What tell "propellers" in Saturns rings about planet formation? [Abstract]