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Thermodynamics of Computation

William Bialek

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Biography: William Bialek (born 1960 in Los Angeles, California) is a theoretical biophysicist and a professor at Princeton University and The Graduate Center, CUNY. Much of his work, which has ranged over a wide variety of theoretical problems at the interface of physics and biology, centers around whether various functions of living beings are optimal, and (if so) whether a precise quantification of their performance approaches limits set by basic physical principles. Best known among these is an influential series of studies applying the principles of information theory to the analysis of the neural encoding of information in the nervous system, showing that aspects of brain function can be described as essentially optimal strategies for adapting to the complex dynamics of the world, making the most of the available signals in the face of fundamental physical constraints and limitations. (Wikipedia)

Field(s) of Research: General Non-equilibrium Statistical Physics, Thermodynamics of Neurobiology, Thermodynamics of Single Cells, Naturally Occurring Biological Computation

Related links

Reference Materials

  1. Cooperativity, sensitivity, and noise in biochemical signaling
  2. Probing the Limits to Positional Information