Equivalences between molecules, including proteins.

3^rd October 2025, 15:00
Vitaliy Kurlin
MIF

Abstract

The fundamental question "Same or different?" sounds deceptively simple but is notoriously hard in many practical cases. A rigorous answer requires us to formally define what objects can be called the same (or equivalent). We will discuss molecules, where atoms are unordered, and also proteins, where main atoms are ordered along a backbone. We study only atomic structures, where all atoms are considered zero-sized points, but the concept of an equivalence makes sense for many other real objects across all scales, from cars to galaxies. This introductory talk revives two discussions in March-April 2022, previously for periodic crystals, which will be covered again in further talks at MIF++.