Statistical Mechanics and Computer Simulations with Applications in Micro- and Nano-Fluidics and Biological Physics

在过去的10-15年里，我们见证了实验科学和计算科学的显著融合。事实上，虽然实验学家现在可以研究DNA或蛋白质等单一分子，甚至可以建立由极少数分子组成的纳米系统(例如纳米通道)，但理论家现在拥有理论和计算工具，可以逐个分子地研究完全相同的系统。巨大的计算机使制作分子电影和详细预测成为可能。这种融合在包括生物物理学和分离科学在内的许多学科中开启了令人难以置信的可能性。在这项拨款申请中，我们建议研究软物质物理、分析化学、生物技术、计算科学和生物物理学之间的几个问题：

Over the last 10-15 years, we have witnessed a remarkable convergence of the experimental and computational sciences. Indeed, while experimentalists can now study single molecules such as DNA or proteins, or even build nanoscopic systems (e.g., nanochannels) made of a very small number of molecules, theoreticians now possess the theoretical and computational tools to study the very same systems, molecule by molecule. Massive computers make it possible to make molecular movies and detailed predictions. This convergence opens incredible possibilities in a number of disciplines, including biophysics and the separation sciences. In this grant application, we propose to investigate several problems at the interfaces between soft matter physics, analytical chemistry, biotechnology, computational science, and biophysics: