From Photon to Neuron

From Photon to Neuron

Author: Philip Nelson

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2017-05-09

Total Pages: 512

ISBN-13: 1400885485

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A richly illustrated undergraduate textbook on the physics and biology of light Students in the physical and life sciences, and in engineering, need to know about the physics and biology of light. Recently, it has become increasingly clear that an understanding of the quantum nature of light is essential, both for the latest imaging technologies and to advance our knowledge of fundamental life processes, such as photosynthesis and human vision. From Photon to Neuron provides undergraduates with an accessible introduction to the physics of light and offers a unified view of a broad range of optical and biological phenomena. Along the way, this richly illustrated textbook builds the necessary background in neuroscience, photochemistry, and other disciplines, with applications to optogenetics, superresolution microscopy, the single-photon response of individual photoreceptor cells, and more. With its integrated approach, From Photon to Neuron can be used as the basis for interdisciplinary courses in physics, biophysics, sensory neuroscience, biophotonics, bioengineering, or nanotechnology. The goal is always for students to gain the fluency needed to derive every result for themselves, so the book includes a wealth of exercises, including many that guide students to create computer-based solutions. Supplementary online materials include real experimental data to use with the exercises. Assumes familiarity with first-year undergraduate physics and the corresponding math Overlaps the goals of the MCAT, which now includes data-based and statistical reasoning Advanced chapters and sections also make the book suitable for graduate courses An Instructor's Guide and illustration package is available to professors


From Photon to Neuron

From Photon to Neuron

Author: Philip Nelson

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2017-05-09

Total Pages: 512

ISBN-13: 0691175195

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What is light? -- Photons and life -- Color vision -- How photons know where to go -- Optical phenomena and life -- Direct image formation -- Imaging as inference -- Imaging by X-ray diffraction -- Vision in dim light -- The mechanism of visual transduction -- The first synapse and beyond -- Electrons, photons, and the Feynman principle -- Field quantization, polarization, and the orientation of a single molecule -- Quantum-mechanical theory of FRET


Physical Models of Living Systems

Physical Models of Living Systems

Author: Philip Nelson

Publisher: Macmillan Higher Education

Published: 2014-12-20

Total Pages: 365

ISBN-13: 1319036902

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Written for intermediate-level undergraduates pursuing any science or engineering major, Physical Models of Living Systems helps students develop many of the competencies that form the basis of the new MCAT2015. The only prerequisite is first-year physics. With the more advanced "Track-2" sections at the end of each chapter, the book can be used in graduate-level courses as well.


Biophysics

Biophysics

Author: William Bialek

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2012-12-17

Total Pages: 653

ISBN-13: 1400845572

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A physicist's guide to the phenomena of life Interactions between the fields of physics and biology reach back over a century, and some of the most significant developments in biology—from the discovery of DNA's structure to imaging of the human brain—have involved collaboration across this disciplinary boundary. For a new generation of physicists, the phenomena of life pose exciting challenges to physics itself, and biophysics has emerged as an important subfield of this discipline. Here, William Bialek provides the first graduate-level introduction to biophysics aimed at physics students. Bialek begins by exploring how photon counting in vision offers important lessons about the opportunities for quantitative, physics-style experiments on diverse biological phenomena. He draws from these lessons three general physical principles—the importance of noise, the need to understand the extraordinary performance of living systems without appealing to finely tuned parameters, and the critical role of the representation and flow of information in the business of life. Bialek then applies these principles to a broad range of phenomena, including the control of gene expression, perception and memory, protein folding, the mechanics of the inner ear, the dynamics of biochemical reactions, and pattern formation in developing embryos. Featuring numerous problems and exercises throughout, Biophysics emphasizes the unifying power of abstract physical principles to motivate new and novel experiments on biological systems. Covers a range of biological phenomena from the physicist's perspective Features 200 problems Draws on statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics, and related mathematical concepts Includes an annotated bibliography and detailed appendixes


A Student's Guide to Python for Physical Modeling

A Student's Guide to Python for Physical Modeling

Author: Jesse M. Kinder

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2021-08-03

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0691223661

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A fully updated tutorial on the basics of the Python programming language for science students Python is a computer programming language that has gained popularity throughout the sciences. This fully updated second edition of A Student's Guide to Python for Physical Modeling aims to help you, the student, teach yourself enough of the Python programming language to get started with physical modeling. You will learn how to install an open-source Python programming environment and use it to accomplish many common scientific computing tasks: importing, exporting, and visualizing data; numerical analysis; and simulation. No prior programming experience is assumed. This guide introduces a wide range of useful tools, including: Basic Python programming and scripting Numerical arrays Two- and three-dimensional graphics Animation Monte Carlo simulations Numerical methods, including solving ordinary differential equations Image processing Numerous code samples and exercises—with solutions—illustrate new ideas as they are introduced. This guide also includes supplemental online resources: code samples, data sets, tutorials, and more. This edition includes new material on symbolic calculations with SymPy, an introduction to Python libraries for data science and machine learning (pandas and sklearn), and a primer on Python classes and object-oriented programming. A new appendix also introduces command line tools and version control with Git.


The Neuron

The Neuron

Author: Irwin B. Levitan

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 640

ISBN-13: 9780195145236

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Intended for use by advanced undergraduate, graduate and medical students, this book presents a study of the unique biochemical and physiological properties of neurons, emphasising the molecular mechanisms that generate and regulate their activity.


Rhythms of the Brain

Rhythms of the Brain

Author: G. Buzsáki

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 465

ISBN-13: 0199828237

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Studies of mechanisms in the brain that allow complicated things to happen in a coordinated fashion have produced some of the most spectacular discoveries in neuroscience. This book provides eloquent support for the idea that spontaneous neuron activity, far from being mere noise, is actually the source of our cognitive abilities. It takes a fresh look at the coevolution of structure and function in the mammalian brain, illustrating how self-emerged oscillatory timing is the brain's fundamental organizer of neuronal information. The small-world-like connectivity of the cerebral cortex allows for global computation on multiple spatial and temporal scales. The perpetual interactions among the multiple network oscillators keep cortical systems in a highly sensitive "metastable" state and provide energy-efficient synchronizing mechanisms via weak links. In a sequence of "cycles," György Buzsáki guides the reader from the physics of oscillations through neuronal assembly organization to complex cognitive processing and memory storage. His clear, fluid writing-accessible to any reader with some scientific knowledge-is supplemented by extensive footnotes and references that make it just as gratifying and instructive a read for the specialist. The coherent view of a single author who has been at the forefront of research in this exciting field, this volume is essential reading for anyone interested in our rapidly evolving understanding of the brain.


Physical Models of Living Systems

Physical Models of Living Systems

Author: Philip Nelson

Publisher: Chiliagon Science

Published: 2021-11-14

Total Pages: 492

ISBN-13: 9781737540243

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Award-winning prof brings you from first-year classes to the frontiers of systems and synthetic biology, epidemic modeling, and imaging. Physical Models of Living Systems first develops the frameworks needed to understand modern ideas about inference from data, as they relate to biological physics research. Later chapters develop stochastic simulation as a tool to handle more complex systems, and then dynamical systems theory applied to cellular control networks, both natural and synthetic. Along the way, you'll also see the foundations of revolutionary advances in imaging (superresolution and cryo-electron microscopy), along with epidemic modeling, mechanobiology, excitable media, and more. The text also has significant overlap with competencies covered in the MCAT exam. Dozens of problems at all levels, many of them new in this edition, will help you to gain simulation and data visualization skills useful in any branch of quantitative science research.


Imaging in Neuroscience

Imaging in Neuroscience

Author: Fritjof Helmchen

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780879699376

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As imaging technologies have revolutionized research in many areas of biology and medicine, neuroscientists have often pioneered the use of these new visualization techniques. This volume is an essential guide to discovering and implementing these techniques in the neuroscience lab.


A Prelude to Quantum Field Theory

A Prelude to Quantum Field Theory

Author: John Donoghue

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2022-03-08

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 0691223483

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"A Prelude to Quantum Field Theory offers a short introduction to quantum field theory (QFT), a powerful framework for understanding particle behavior that is an essential tool across many subfields of physics. A subject that is typically taught at the graduate level in most physics departments, quantum field theory is a unification of standard quantum theories and special relativity, which depicts all particles as "excitations" that arise in underlying fields. It extends quantum mechanics, the modern theory of one or few particles, in a way that is useful for the analysis of many-particle systems in the real world. As it requires a different style of thinking from quantum mechanics, which is typically the undergraduate physics student's first encounter with the quantum world, many beginners struggle with the transition to quantum field theory, especially when working with traditional textbooks. Existing books on the subject often tend to be large, sophisticated, and complete; and an overwhelming wealth of information and technical detail makes it difficult for the novice to discern what is most important. This book is a concise, friendly entrée for QFT-beginners, guiding the reader from the style of quantum mechanical thinking to that of QFT, and distilling the key ideas without a welter of unnecessary detail. In contrast with standard texts, which are predominantly particle physics-centric, this book is designed to be "subfield-neutral" - usable by students of any background and interest, and easily adaptable in a course setting according to instructors' preferences. The authors' conviction is that QFT is a core element of physics that should be understood by all PhD physicists-but that developing an appreciation for it does not require digesting a large, encyclopedic volume"--