<p> Interactions between particles and their environment can alter the dynamics of biological systems. In crowded media like the cell, interactions with obstacles can introduce anomalous subdiffusion. Active matter systems, <i>e.g. </i>, bacterial swarms, are nonequilibrium fluids where interparticle interactions and activity cause collective motion and dynamical phases. In this thesis, I discuss my advances in the fields of crowded media and active matter. For crowded media, I studied the effects of soft obstacles and bound mobility on tracer diffusion using a lattice Monte Carlo model. I characterized how bound motion can minimize the effects of hindered anomalous diffusion and obstacle percolation, which has implications for protein movement and interactions in cells. I extended the analysis of binding and bound motion to study the effects of transport across biofilters like the nuclear pore complex (NPC). Using a minimal model, I made predictions on the selectivity of the NPC in terms of physical parameters. Finally, I looked at active matter systems. Using dynamical density functional theory, I studied the temporal evolution of a self-propelled needle system. I mapped out a dynamical phase diagram and discuss the connection between a banding instability and microscopic interactions.</p><p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10823834 |
| Date | 29 September 2018 |
| Creators | Stefferson, Michael W. |
| Publisher | University of Colorado at Boulder |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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