Wednesday February 19, 2003
Hongyun Wang
Department of Mathematics, University of California at Santa Cruz
Abstract: The mathematical framework we use to describe molecular motors is a system of coupled Fokker-Planck equations. We will discuss a robust numerical algorithm for solving systems of coupled Fokker-Planck equations. The method is constructed by approximating a continuous Markov process by a discrete jump process. The jump rates are derived based on local solutions. The advantages of the method includes: (i) it preserves detailed balance, (ii) it has second order accuracy and is numerically stable, and (iii) it can handle discontinuous potentials. We will discuss how to use the method to recover the motor driving potential from the time series of motor position measured in single molecule experiments.
For more information contact J. Keener, 1-6089