Abstract:
<p>Switching networks are a common model for biological systems, especially</p><p>for genetic transcription networks. Stuart Kaufman originally proposed</p><p>the usefulness of the Boolean framework, but much of the dynamical </p><p>features there are not realizable in a continuous analogue. We introduce the notion</p><p>of braid-like dynamics as a bridge between Boolean and continuous dynamics and</p><p>study its importance in the local dynamics of ring and ring-like networks. We discuss</p><p>a near-theorem on the global dynamics of general feedback networks, and in the final</p><p>chapter study the main ideas of this thesis in models of a yeast cell transcription network.</p>
