XJ Xu

Classical physics has long concerned itself with closed systems that relax toward equilibrium, governed by extremum principles. Yet most, if not all, natural systems are open and driven away from thermal equilibrium, evolving without any known universal principles. The epitome of far-from-equilibrium phenomena is life itself: driven by chemical free energy, living cells generate spatiotemporal order in their biochemical components to grow, move, and divide. This dissertation examines the relation between microscopic biochemical reaction networks and the formation of mesoscopic lipid-protein patterns, such as traveling waves. I will show that the wave nature of the plasma membrane is fundamental to understanding how key signaling lipids are regulated.