collaborators

7 papers

cond-mat.stat-mech2026

Finite-Time Optimal Control by Noisy Traps

Luca Cocconi, Henry Alston, Thibault Bertrand

The optimal control of passive systems in equilibrium typically favours quasistatic (infinite-time) protocols. We show that a breakdown of quasistatic optimality occurs when the co…

q-bio.PE2026

Neutralization titers reveal the structure of polyclonal antibody responses

Henry Alston, Thierry Mora, Aleksandra M. Walczak

The composition of a polyclonal antibody response is hard to measure experimentally but contains vital information about the robustness of immunity. Here, we argue that the statist…

q-bio.SC2025

Theoretical limits for sensing through phase separation

Henry Alston, Mason Rouches, Arvind Murugan +2

Biomolecular condensates form on timescales of seconds in cells upon environmental or compositional changes. Condensate formation is thus argued to act as a mechanism for sensing s…

cond-mat.stat-mech2025

Controlling the Glass Transition through Active Fluctuating Interactions

Emir Sezik, Henry Alston, Thibault Bertrand

Fluctuating pairwise interactions are understood to drive fluid-like states in dense biological systems. These states find a broad range of functionalities, such as directing growt…

cond-mat.soft2025

Stochastic Forces Enhance Tracer Diffusion in Non-motile Active Matter

Henry Alston, Raphael Voituriez, Thibault Bertrand

Stochasticity is a defining feature of the pairwise forces governing interactions in biological systems-from molecular motors to cell-cell adhesion-yet its consequences on large-sc…

math-ph2025

Conditional splitting probabilities for hidden-state inference in drift-diffusive processes

Emir Sezik, Jacob Knight, Henry Alston +4

Splitting probabilities quantify the likelihood of particular outcomes out of a set of mutually-exclusive possibilities for stochastic processes and play a central role in first-pa…