Infinite combinatorics in mathematical biology

Saharon Shelah, Lutz Strüngmann*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Is it possible to apply infinite combinatorics and (infinite) set theory in theoretical biology? We do not know the answer yet but in this article we try to present some techniques from infinite combinatorics and set theory that have been used over the last decades in order to prove existence results and independence theorems in algebra and that might have the flexibility and generality to be also used in theoretical biology. In particular, we will introduce the theory of forcing and an algebraic construction technique based on trees and forests using infinite binary sequences. We will also present an overview of the theory of circular codes. Such codes had been found in the genetic information and are assumed to play an important role in error detecting and error correcting mechanisms during the process of translation. Finally, examples and constructions of infinite mixed circular codes using binary sequences hopefully show some similarity between these theories - a starting point for future applications.

Original languageEnglish
Article number104392
JournalBioSystems
Volume204
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

  • Circular codes
  • Forcing
  • Forests
  • Genetic code
  • Trees

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