A robust simulator for physiologically structured population models.

A framework to simulate physiologically structured population (PSP) models on high performance compute (HPC) infrastructure is built. Based on the model of a single cell, billions of cells can be simulated in an efficient way, allowing fast simulation of the interaction of an entire organ with other body parts. Trough combination of three state-of-the-art algorithms, the simulation time is decreased with multiple orders of magnitude.

Localized auxin peaks in concentration-based transport models of the shoot apical meristem.

We study the formation of auxin peaks in a generic class of concentration-based auxin transport models, posed on static plant tissues. Using standard asymptotic analysis, we prove that, on bounded domains, auxin peaks are not formed via a Turing instability in the active transport parameter, but via simple corrections to the homogeneous steady state. When the active transport is small, the geometry of the tissue encodes the peaks' amplitude and location: peaks arise where cells have fewer neighbours, that is, at the boundary of the domain.

Numerical bifurcation analysis of the pattern formation in a cell based auxin transport model.

Transport models of growth hormones can be used to reproduce the hormone accumulations that occur in plant organs. Mostly, these accumulation patterns are calculated using time step methods, even though only the resulting steady state patterns of the model are of interest. We examine the steady state solutions of the hormone transport model of Smith et al.

Towards mechanistic models of plant organ growth.

Modelling and simulation are increasingly used as tools in the study of plant growth and developmental processes. By formulating experimentally obtained knowledge as a system of interacting mathematical equations, it becomes feasible for biologists to gain a mechanistic understanding of the complex behaviour of biological systems. In this review, the modelling tools that are currently available and the progress that has been made to model plant development, based on experimental knowledge, are described.

Complete photo-induced breakup of the H2 molecule as a probe of molecular electron correlation.

Despite decades of progress in quantum mechanics, electron correlation effects are still only partially understood. Experiments in which both electrons are ejected from an oriented hydrogen molecule by absorption of a single photon have recently demonstrated a puzzling phenomenon: The ejection pattern of the electrons depends sensitively on the bond distance between the two nuclei as they vibrate in their ground state. Here, we report a complete numerical solution of the Schrödinger equation for the double photoionization of H2.

Threshold vibrational excitation of CO2 by slow electrons.

Threshold structures, reminiscent of those seen in the polar hydrogen halides, have recently been observed in the cross sections for electron impact excitation of certain vibrational levels of the nonpolar CO2 molecule. These structures occur at energies outside the range where shape resonances dominate the dynamics. We propose a virtual state model that describes the multidimensional nuclear dynamics during the collision and explains quantitatively the selectivity observed in the excitation of the Fermi dyad, as well as the pattern of threshold peaks and oscillations seen in the upper levels of the higher polyads.

Modified J-matrix method for scattering.

We modify the J-matrix technique for scattering so that problems with long-range interactions are easily solved. This is done by introducing additional terms in the asymptotic three-term recurrence relation that take into account asymptotic effects of the potential. The solutions of this modified recurrence relation are a very good approximation of the exact scattering solution.