We were delighted to welcome Ralph Metzler, Chair of Theoretical Physics at the University of Potsdam to our Seminar Series on March 14th. The lecture entitled “Long-range dependent processes in disordered systems” started with an historical perspective on the origin of particle dynamics (brownian motion; random walks). Metzler’s work extends to the application of stochastic processes in biological and soft matter systems.

In particular, fractional Brownian motion (fBm), is particularly useful in modelling the dynamics of biological macromolecules, such as DNA or proteins, as well as the movement of cells or particles within complex biological environments. Metzler’s research explores how the anomalous diffusion described by models like fBm impacts processes like molecular transport, reaction kinetics and cellular dynamics. The connection between Metzler’s research and the SFB1551 resonated among the our network’s physicists and promoted a vivid and fruitful scientific discussion.