Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Liu, Jinghui
• Totz, Jan F
• Miller, Pearson W
• Hastewell, Alasdair D
• Chao, Yu-Chen
• Dunkel, Jörn
• Fakhri, Nikta

Titel

Topological braiding and virtual particles on the cell membrane

Ist Teil von

• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, 2021-08, Vol.118 (34), p.1

Ort / Verlag

United States: National Academy of Sciences

Erscheinungsjahr

2021

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Braiding of topological structures in complex matter fields provides a robust framework for encoding and processing information, and it has been extensively studied in the context of topological quantum computation. In living systems, topological defects are crucial for the localization and organization of biochemical signaling waves, but their braiding dynamics remain unexplored. Here, we show that the spiral wave cores, which organize the Rho-GTP protein signaling dynamics and force generation on the membrane of starfish egg cells, undergo spontaneous braiding dynamics. Experimentally measured world line braiding exponents and topological entropy correlate with cellular activity and agree with predictions from a generic field theory. Our analysis further reveals the creation and annihilation of virtual quasi-particle excitations during defect scattering events, suggesting phenomenological parallels between quantum and living matter.