Physical Considerations in Memory and Information Storage.

Information is an important resource. Storing and retrieving information faithfully are huge challenges and many methods have been developed to understand the principles behind robust information processing. In this review, we focus on information storage and retrieval from the perspective of energetics, dynamics, and statistical mechanics.

Active oscillatory associative memory.

Traditionally, physical models of associative memory assume conditions of equilibrium. Here, we consider a prototypical oscillator model of associative memory and study how active noise sources that drive the system out of equilibrium, as well as nonlinearities in the interactions between the oscillators, affect the associative memory properties of the system. Our simulations show that pattern retrieval under active noise is more robust to the number of learned patterns and noise intensity than under passive noise.

Cluster-Spin-Glass Magnetic Behavior and Morphology in the Coordination Polymer Alloys FeCoBTT.

We report the synthesis of a series of pseudo-1D coordination polymer (CP) materials with the formula FeCoBTT (BTT = 1,3,5-benzenetrithiolate). These materials were structurally characterized by PXRD Rietveld, EXAFS, and PDF analyses, revealing that the CP superstructure enables a continuous and isomorphous alloy between the two homometallic compounds. Lower Fe loadings exhibit emergent spin glass magnetic behavior, such as memory effects and composition-dependent spin glass response time constants ranging from 6.

Mechanism for the Generation of Robust Circadian Oscillations through Ultransensitivity and Differential Binding Affinity.

Biochemical circadian rhythm oscillations play an important role in many signaling mechanisms. In this work, we explore some of the biophysical mechanisms responsible for sustaining robust oscillations by constructing a minimal but analytically tractable model of the circadian oscillations in the KaiABC protein system found in the cyanobacteria . In particular, our minimal model explicitly accounts for two experimentally characterized biophysical features of the KaiABC protein system, namely, a differential binding affinity and an ultrasensitive response.