Professor Alan McKane
From the Manchester Bio-Modelling Network
Name
Alan McKane
Position
Professor of Theoretical Physics
Affiliation
University of Manchester
Research Interests
I am a theoretical physicist who is interested in applying the ideas and techniques of statistical mechanics to a variety of areas outside of physics, mainly to the biological sciences and economics, but also to other social sciences. The interactions of a large number of constituents (be they individuals, companies or species) are naturally represented by a network of nodes connected by links. So the analysis of complex structures frequently involves the investigation of the network structures that arise from simple rules of interaction between the constituent nodes. Examples are food webs, metabolic networks and economic networks, such as those involving consumer preference or innovation. I am interested in the construction of model networks of these kinds, and in their analysis. There are also more direct ways of using the techniques of statistical mechanics --- for example in the formulation of stochastic models using so-called master equations, and their subsequent mathematical analysis. I am interested in the application of these ideas to ecology, epidemiology and cellular systems. I also carry out research into theoretical population genetics and the use of ideas from this field in modelling the evolution of language.
Website
http://theory.ph.man.ac.uk/~ajm
