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Current research topics

Active cell, tissue, and organism dynamics / Active matter

Intracellular organisation via phase separation / Non-equilibrium phase separation

Amyloid self-assembly / biopolymer self-assembly


Other research topics

Machine learning & optimisation

Pattern formation

Fluctuation analysis

Networks

Nuclear envelope

Quantum biology

Quantum information & condensed matter physics

Combinatorics

Active cell, tissue, and organism dynamics / Active matter

P. Jentsch and C.F. Lee
A new universality class describes Vicsek's flocking phase in physical dimensions
E-print: arXiv:2402.01316
P. Jentsch and C.F. Lee
Can exact scaling exponents be obtained using the renormalization group? Affirmative evidence from incompressible polar active fluids
E-print: arXiv:2307.06725
S.K. Anand, C.F. Lee, and T. Bertrand (2024) [Letter]
Active Jamming at Criticality
Physical Review Research 6 L022018. E-print: arXiv:2309.08935
A. Killeen, T. Bertrand, and C.F. Lee (2024)
Machine learning topological defects in confluent tissues
Biophyscial Reports 4 100142; E-print: arXiv:2303.08166
L. Chen, C.F. Lee, A. Maitra and J. Toner (2024) [Letter]
Dynamics of packed swarms: time-displaced correlators of two dimensional incompressible flocks
Physical Review E 109 L012601; E-print: arxiv:2304.06139
A. Killeen, B. Partridge, T. Bertrand, and C.F. Lee (2023)
Modeling growing confluent tissues using a lattice Boltzmann method: interface stability and fluctuations
Physical Review Research 5 043096; E-print: arXiv:2303.02210
P. Jentsch and C.F. Lee (2023)
Critical phenomena in compressible polar active fluids: Dynamical and functional renormalization group studies
Physical Review Research 5 023061; E-print: arXiv:2210.03830
A. Cairoli, A. Spenlehauer, D.R. Overby, and C.F. Lee (2023)
Model of inverse bleb growth explains giant vacuole dynamics during cell mechanoadaptation
PNAS Nexus, pgac304; bioRxiv: 2022.06.26.497642
L. Chen, C.F. Lee, A. Maitra and J. Toner (2022)
Incompressible polar active fluids with quenched disorder in dimensions d > 2
Physical Review Letters 129 198001. E-print: arXiv:2203.01892
L. Chen, C.F. Lee, A. Maitra and J. Toner (2022)
Packed swarms on dirt: two dimensional incompressible flocks with quenched and annealed disorder
Physical Review Letters 129 188004. E-print: arXiv:2202.02865
[Featured in a News and Views article in Nature and in the Physics Magazine, PRL Editors' suggestion]
L. Chen, C.F. Lee, A. Maitra and J. Toner (2022)
Hydrodynamic theory of two-dimensional incompressible polar active fluids with quenched and annealed disorder
Physical Review E 106 044608 E-print: arXiv:2205.14384
A. Killeen, T. Bertrand and C.F. Lee (2022)
Polar Fluctuations Lead to Extensile Nematic Behavior in Confluent Tissues
Physical Review Letters 128 078001. E-print: arXiv:2107.03838
[Editors' suggestion, featured in Physics]
B. Partridge, S. Gonzalez Anton, R. Khorshed, G. Adams, C. Pospori, C. Lo Celso, and C.F. Lee (2022)
Heterogeneous run-and-tumble motion accounts for transient non-Gaussian super-diffusion in haematopoietic multi-potent progenitor cells
PLoS ONE 17 e0272587. E-print: bioRxiv 2021.11.19.469302
C. Pirillo, F. Tissot, F. Birch, S. Gonzalez Anton, M. Haltalli, V. Tini, I. Kong, B. Partridge, C. Pospori, K. Keeshan, S. Santamaria, E. Hawkins, B. Falini, A. Marra, D. Duarte, C.F. Lee, E. Roberts, and C. Lo Celso (2022)
Metalloproteinase inhibition reduces AML growth, prevents stem cell loss and improves chemotherapy effectiveness
Blood Advances 6 3126–3141
C.F. Lee (2022)
An Infinite Set of Integral Formulae for Polar, Nematic, and Higher Order Structures at the Interface of Motility-Induced Phase Separation
New Journal of Physics 24, 043010. E-print: arXiv:2104.01581
T. Bertrand and C.F. Lee (2022) [Letter]
Diversity of phase transitions and phase co-existences in active fluids
Physical Review Research 4, L022046. E-print: arXiv:2012.05866
A. Cairoli and C.F. Lee
Hydrodynamics of Active Lévy Matter.
E-print: arXiv:1903.07565
A. Cairoli and C.F. Lee
Active Lévy Matter: Anomalous Diffusion, Hydrodynamics and Linear Stability.
E-print: arXiv:1904.08326
D. Nesbitt, G. Pruessner and C.F. Lee (2021)
Uncovering novel phase transitions in dense dry polar active fluids using a lattice Boltzmann method. New Journal of Physics 23 043047. E-print: arXiv:1902.00530
L. Chen, C.F. Lee and J. Toner (2020)
Universality class for a nonequilibrium state of matter: a d = 4 - ε expansion study of Malthusian flocks. Physical Review E 102, 022610. E-print: arXiv:2004.00129
L. Chen, C.F. Lee and J. Toner (2020)
Moving, reproducing, and dying beyond Flatland: Malthusian flocks in dimensions d > 2. Physical Review Letters 125, 098003. E-print: arXiv:2001.01300
B. Partridge and C.F. Lee (2019)
Critical motility-induced phase separation belongs to the Ising universality class. Physical Review Letters 123, 068002. E-print: arXiv:1810.06112
P. Sartori and C.F. Lee (2019)
Scaling behaviour of non-equilibrium planar N-atic spin systems under weak fluctuations. New Journal of Physics 21, 073064. E-print: arXiv:1906.03115
C.F. Lee and J.D. Wurtz (2019)
Novel physics arising from phase transitions in biology. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 52, 023001. E-print: arXiv:1809.11117.
Featured in the Thesis section at Nature Physics.
L. Chen, C.F. Lee and J. Toner (2018)
Incompressible polar active fluids in the moving phase. New Journal of Physics 20, 113035. E-print: arXiv:1806.02548
L. Chen, C.F. Lee and J. Toner (2018)
Squeezed in three dimensions, moving in two: Hydrodynamic theory of 3D incompressible easy-plane polar active fluids. Physical Review E 98, 040602(R). E-print: arXiv:1805.07930
D. Nesbitt, G. Pruessner and C.F. Lee (2017)
Edge instability in incompressible planar active fluids. Physical Review E 96, 062615. E-print: arXiv:1706.03584
C.F. Lee (2017)
Interface stability, interface fluctuations, and the Gibbs-Thomson relation in motility-induced phase separations. Soft Matter 13 376-385. E-print: arxiv:1503.08674.
L. Chen, C.F. Lee and J. Toner (2016)
Surprising mappings of 2D polar active fluids to 2D soap and 1D sandblasting. Nature Communications 7, 12215. E-print: arxiv:1601.01924.

G. Pruessner and C.F. Lee (2016)
Comment on "Anomalous Discontinuity at the Percolation Critical Point of Active Gels." Physical Review Letters 116, 189801. E-print: arxiv:1605.02855.
C.F. Lee and G. Pruessner (2016) [Editors' Suggestion]
Percolation with trapping mechanism drives active gels to the critically connected state. Physical Review E 93, 052414. E-print: arxiv:1508.06771.
L. Chen, J. Toner and C.F. Lee (2015)
Critical Phenomenon of the Order-Disorder Transition in Incompressible Active Fluids. New Journal of Physics 17, 042002 (Fast Track Communication) [Video abstract]. E-print: arxiv:1410.2764.
C.F. Lee (2013)
Active particles under confinement: Aggregation at the wall and gradient formation inside a channel. New Journal of Physics 15, 055007. E-print: arXiv:1304.5556.
C.F. Lee (2011)
Singular perturbation analysis of a reduced model for collective motion: A renormalization group approach. Physical Review E 83, 031127. E-print: arXiv:1102.0407.
C.F. Lee (2010)

Fluctuation-induced collective motion: A single-particle density analysis
Physical Review E 81, 031125.


Intracellular organisation via phase separation / Non-equilibrium phase separation

C.F. Lee (2021)
Scaling Law and Universal Drop Size Distribution of Coarsening in Conversion-Limited Phase Separation
Physical Review Research 3, 043081. E-print: arXiv:2108.00357
A.W. Folkmann, A.A. Putnam, C.F. Lee, and G. Seydoux (2021)
Regulation of biomolecular condensates by interfacial protein clusters
Science 373 1218.
C.A. Weber, D. Zwicker, F. Jülicher and C.F. Lee (2019)
Physics of Active Emulsions. Reports of Progress in Physics 82, 064601. E-print: arXiv:1806.09552
C.F. Lee and J.D. Wurtz (2019)
Novel physics arising from phase transitions in biology. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 52, 023001. E-print: arXiv:1809.11117.
Featured in the Thesis section at Nature Physics.
J.D. Wurtz and C.F. Lee (2018)
Stress granule formation via ATP depletion-triggered phase separation. New Journal of Physics 20 045008. E-print: arXiv:1708.05697
J.D. Wurtz and C.F. Lee (2018)
Chemical reaction-controlled phase separated drops: Formation, size selection, and coarsening. Physical Review Letters 120, 078102. E-print: arXiv:1707.08433
C.A. Weber, C.F. Lee and F. Jülicher (2017)
Droplet Ripening in Concentration Gradients. New Journal of Physics 19 053021. E-print: arxiv:1703.06276.
C.F. Lee, C.P. Brangwynne, J. Gharakhani, A.A. Hyman and F. Jülicher (2013)
Spatial organization of the cell cytoplasm by position dependent phase separation. Physical Review Letters 111, 088101.

Amyloid self-assembly / biopolymer self-assembly

L. Pytowski, C.F. Lee, A.C. Foley, D.J. Vaux and L. Jean (2020)
Liquid–liquid phase separation of type II diabetesassociated IAPP initiates hydrogelation and aggregation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117 12050.
C.F. Lee (2018)
Equilibrium kinetics of self-assembling, semi-flexible polymers. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 30 315102. E-print: arXiv:1709.04684
H,A. Davies, C.F. Lee, L. Miller, L.-N. Liu and J. Madine (2018)
Insights into the Origin of Distinct Medin Fibril Morphologies Induced by Incubation Conditions and Seeding. International Journal Molecular Sciences 19, 1357.
L. Hong, C.F. Lee and Y.J. Huang (2017)
Statistical Mechanics and Kinetics of Amyloid Fibrillation. Biophysics and biochemistry of protein aggregation, edited by J.-M. Yuan and H.-X. Zhou (World Scientific), chapter 4. E-print: arxiv:1609.01569.
L. Jean, C.F. Lee, P. Hodder, N. Hawkins and D.J. Vaux (2016)
Dynamics of the formation of a hydrogel by a pathogenic amyloid peptide: islet amyloid polypeptide. Scientific Reports 6, 32124.
C.F. Lee (2015)
Thermal breakage of a semi-flexible polymer: Breakage profile and rate. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 27, 275101.
B.J. Trigg, C.F. Lee, D.J. Vaux and L. Jean (2013)
The air-water interface determines the outcome of seeding during amyloidogenesis. Biochemical Journal 456, 67-80.
C.F. Lee*, S. Bird*, M. Shaw, L. Jean and D.J. Vaux (2012)
Combined effects of agitation, macromolecular crowding and interfaces on amyloidogenesis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 287, 38006. [* = joint first authors]
C.F. Lee (2012)
Length distribution of stiff, self-assembled polymers at thermal
equilibrium. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 24, 415101. E-print: arXiv:1208.2906.
L. Jean*, C.F. Lee* and D.J. Vaux (2012)
Enrichment of amyloidogenesis at an air-water interface. Biophysical Journal 102, 1154-1162. [* = joint first authors]
L. Jean, C.F. Lee, C. Lee, M. Shaw and D.J. Vaux (2010)
Competing discrete interfacial effects are critical for amyloidogenesis. FASEB Journal 24, 309-317.
C.F. Lee, J. Loken, L. Jean and D.J. Vaux (2009)
Elongation dynamics of amyloid fibrils: a rugged energy landscape picture. Physical Review E 80, 041906. E-print: arXiv:0904.2505.
C.F. Lee (2009)
Self-assembly of protein amyloid: A competition between amorphous and ordered aggregation. Physical Review E 80, 031922. E-print: arXiv:0802.1985.
C.F. Lee (2009)
Thermal breakage of a discrete one-dimensional string. Physical Review E 80, 031134. E-print: arXiv:0906.3754.
C.F. Lee (2009)
Isotropic-nematic phase transition in amyloid fibrilization. Physical Review E 80, 031902. E-print: arXiv:0906.2504.
L. Jean, C.F. Lee, M. Shaw and D.J. Vaux (2008)
Structural Elements Regulating Amyloidogenesis: a Cholinesterase Model System. PLoS ONE 3, e1834.

Machine learning & optimisation

A. Killeen, T. Bertrand, and C.F. Lee (2024)
Machine learning topological defects in confluent tissues
Biophyscial Reports 4 100142; E-print: arXiv:2303.08166
S.L. Law, C.F. Lee, S. Howison and J.N. Dewynne (2007)
Perturbation analysis of multi-asset portfolio optimization with transaction cost. E-print: arXiv:0708.1159.
D.H. Wolpert and C.F. Lee (2006)
An adaptive Metropolis-Hastings scheme: sampling and optimization. Europhysics Letters 76, 353-359. E-print: cond-mat/0504163.
C.F. Lee and D.H. Wolpert (2004)
Product distribution theory for control of multi-agent systems. In Proceedings of the Third International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents & Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS 2004), IEEE Press, New York, USA, July 19-23, pp. 522-529.
C.F. Lee (2001)
Quantum Algebraic-Geometric Codes. Part III essay for the MASt course at the University of Cambridge.

Pattern formation
T. Peng, D. Paramelle, B. Sana, C.F. Lee and S. Lim (2014)
Designing Non-Native Iron-Binding Site on a Protein Cage for Biological Synthesis of Nanoparticles
Small 10, 3131.
P.P.A. Staniczenko, C.F. Lee and N.S. Jones (2009)
Rapidly detecting disorder in rhythmic biological signals: a spectral entropy measure to identify cardiac arrhythmias. Physical Review E 79, 0119115. E-print: arXiv:0810.1404.
C. Lerma, C.F. Lee, L. Glass and A.L. Goldberger (2007) The Rule of Bigeminy Revisited: Analysis in Sudden Cardiac Death Syndrome. Journal of Electrocardiology 40, 78-88.
V. Lemaire*, C.F. Lee*, J. Lei, R. Métivier and L. Glass (2006) Sequential recruitment and combinatorial assembling of multiprotein complexes in transcriptional activation. Physical Review Letters 96, 198102. E-print: q-bio.CB/0605049.