Simple Brownian Diffusion

Brownian diffusion, the motion of large molecules in a sea of very many much smaller molecules, is topical because it is one of the ways in which biologically important molecules move about inside living cells. This book presents the mathematical physics that underlies the four simplest models of Brownian diffusion.

Dan Gillespie is a physicist, with a B.A. from Rice University (1960) and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University (1968). He is well known in the field of stochastic chemical kinetics as the inventor of a computer algorithm for simulating the discrete-stochastic time evolution of a chemically reacting system. Dan has written two books in science: A Quantum Mechanics Primer (in print from 1970 to 1986 from International Textbook Co.), and Markov Processes: An Introduction for Physical Scientists (1992, Academic Press). From 1971 to 2001, Dan was a civilian research scientist for the U. S. Navy in China Lake, California. Since his retirement from there in 2001, he has been a private consultant in stochastic chemical kinetics, working under contracts with researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara and the California Institute of Technology.

Effrosyni Seitaridou is an Assistant Professor of Physics at Oxford College of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. She received her B.A. in Physics from Smith College (2002), and received a B.E. in Materials Science from Dartmouth College (2002). Effrosyni did her post-graduate studies at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where she was a Moore Fellow. Her research work has been published in such diverse journals as the American Journal of Physics, The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, and Nucleic Acid Research. Effrosyni is currently conducting experiments with undergraduate students to understand how the stage of development of a biofilm affects the process of diffusion within the biofilm. She is also designing interdisciplinary experiments for the introductory physics curriculum, as she is especially interested in the teaching of freshman-level and sophomore-level physics courses. In 2009, Effrosyni received formal recognition from Phi Beta Kappa for her excellence in teaching.