Equivalence between two-dimensional cell-sorting and one-dimensional generalized random walk -- spin representations of generating operators

Abstract

The two-dimensional cell-sorting problem is found to be mathematically equivalent to the one-dimensional random walk problem with pair creations and annihilations, i.e. the adhesion probabilities in the cell-sorting model relate analytically to the expectation values in the random walk problem. This is an example demonstrating that two completely different biological systems are governed by a common mathematical structure. This result is obtained through the equivalences of these systems with lattice spin models. It is also shown that arbitrary generation operators can be written by the spin operators, and hence all biological stochastic problems can in principle be analyzed utilizing the techniques and knowledge previously obtained in the study of lattice spin systems.