Bo Li's Home Page
Professor Bo Li
Department of Mathematics, Faculty
Quantitative Biology Ph.D. Program, Faculty
The Halicioglu Data Science Institute, Faculty Affiliate
University of California, San Diego
E-mail: bli@math.ucsd.edu

A brief CV // Publications // Presentations

Research Interests:

Scientific computing, numerical analysis, and applied analysis (PDEs and the calculus of variations, dynamical systems, and stochastic processes), with application in biophysics, comput. biology, materials science, and continuum mechanics.

Current Research Topics and Projects

  • Biomolecular simul.: variational implicit solvation, free energy approx., kinetics, Monte Carlo, folding & binding.
  • Spatiotemporal dynamics and complex patterns of growing bacterial colonies and biofilms.
  • Electrostatics of proteins and ionic liquids, correlations & steric effects, forces, Poisson-Boltzmann, Monte Carlo.
  • Theory and numerical methods for fluctuating interfacial dynamics.
  • Optimical transport: theory and algorithms, stat. mech. approach, application in biology & materials.
  • Neural networks: approx. theory, stochastic algorithms, math & stat. mech. foundations, application in biophysics.

Some Past Research Projects

Teaching

Students, Postdocs, and Long-Term Visitors
Seminars: Mathematics for Complex Biological Systems (Summer 2007-Spring 2024)

Preprints

  • B. Li, Q. Yin, and S. Zhou, Finite-difference approximations and local algorithms for the Poisson and Poisson-Boltzmann electrostatics, 2024 (submitted; preprint)
  • Y. Zhang, A. Cloninger, B. Li, and X. Tian, A neural network kernel decomposition for learning multiple steady states in parameterized dynamical system, 2023 (submitted; preprint).
  • H. Kannan, P. Sun, M. Warren, ..., J. Dong, B. Li, and T. Hwa, Spatiotemporal development of growth and death zones in expanding bacterial colonies driven by emergent nutrient dynamics, 2023 (submitted; preprint at bioRxiv)

Selected Publications (click here for a full list of publications)

  • Z. Huang and B. Li, Variational implicit solvation with Legendre-transformed Poisson-Boltzmann elecrtrostatics, Proc. R. Soc. A, 480:20230731, 2024. (Preprint, Published version)
  • S. Liu, Z. Zhang, H.-B. Cheng, L.-T. Cheng, and B. Li, Explicit-solute implicit-solvent molecular simulation with binary level-set, adaptive-mobility, and GPU, J. Comput. Phys., 472, 111673, 2023. (Preprint, Published version)
  • B. Li, Z. Zhang, and S. Zhou, The calculus of boundary variations and the dielectric boundary force in the Poisson-Boltzmann theory for molecular solvation, J. Nonlinear Sci., 31(89), pp. 1-50, 2021. (Preprint, Published version)
  • B. Ciotti and B. Li, Passing from discrete to continuum models of electrostatic energy, SIAM J. Math. Anal., 53(4), 4568-4604, 2021. (Published version © SIAM)
  • C. Fan, B. Li, and M. White, A generalized Rayleigh-Plesset equation for ions with solvent fluctuations, SIAM J. Applied Math, 81(3), 1098-1115, 2021. (Published version © SIAM)
  • Z. Zhang, C. Ricci, C. Fan, L.-T. Cheng, B. Li, and J. A. McCammon, Coupling Monte Carlo, variational implicit solvation, and binary level-set for simulations of biomolecular binding, J. Chem. Theory Comput., 17(4), 2465-2478, 2021. (Preprint, Published version)
  • S. Zhou, R. G. Weiss, L.-T. Cheng, J. Dzubiella, J. A. McCammon, and B. Li, Variational implicit-solvent predictions of the dry-wet transition pathways for ligand-receptor binding and unbinding kinetics, Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA, 116(30), 14989-14994, 2019. (Main text. SI. A related presentation.)
  • M. Warren, H. Sun, Y. Yan, J. Cremer, B. Li, and T. Hwa, Spatiotemporal establishment of dense bacterial colonies growing on hard agar, eLife, 8:e41093, 2019. (Open access. A related presentation.)
  • S. Dai, B. Li, and J. Lu, Convergence of phase-field free energy and boundary force for molecular solvation, Arch. Rational Mech. Anal., 227(1), 105-147, 2018. (Preprint, Published version, A related presentation.)
  • H. Sun, J. Wen, Y. Zhao, B. Li, and J. A. McCammon, A self-consistent phase-field approach to implicit solvation of charged molecules with Poisson-Boltzmann electrostatics, J. Chem. Phys., 143, 243110, 2015. (Published version)
  • S. Zhou, L.-T. Cheng, J. Dzubiella, B. Li, and J. A. McCammon, Variational implicit solvation with Poisson-Boltzmann theory, J. Chem. Theory Comput., 10(4), 1454-1467, 2014. (Published version)
  • B. A. Camley, Y. Zhao, B. Li, H. Levine, and W.-J. Rappel, Periodic migration in a physical model of cells on micropatterns, Phys. Rev. Lett., 111, 158102, 2013. (Published version: main text, SI. permision of the journal)
  • B. Li, X. Cheng, and Z. Zhang, Dielectric boundary force in molecular solvation with the Poisson-Boltzmann free energy: A shape derivative approach, SIAM J. Appl. Math., 71(6), 2093-2111, 2011. (Published version © SIAM)
  • S. Zhou, Z. Wang, and B. Li, Mean-field description of ionic size effects with non-uniform ionic sizes: A numerical approach, Phys. Rev. E, 84, 021901, 2011. (Published version - permision of the journal)
  • B. Li, Continuum electrostatics for ionic solutions with non-uniform ionic sizes, Nonlinearity, 22(4), 811-833, 2009. (Included in IOP Select 2009. Published version.)
  • B. Li, Minimization of electrostatic free energy and the Poisson-Boltzmann equation for molecular solvation with implicit solvent, SIAM J. Math. Anal., 40(6), 2536-2566, 2009. (Published version © SIAM)
  • J. Che, J. Dzubiella, B. Li, and J. A. McCammon, Electrostatic free energy and its variations in implicit solvent models, J. Phys. Chem. B, 112(10), 3058-3069, 2008. (Preprint, Published version)
  • B. Li and J.-G. Liu, Epitaxial growth without slope selection: energetics, coarsening, and dynamic scaling, J. Nonlinear Sci., 14, 429-451, 2004. (Preprint, Published version)
  • B. Li and J.-G. Liu, Thin film epitaxy with or without slope selection, Euro. J. Appl. Math., 14, 713-743, 2003. (Preprint, Published version)
  • R. E. Caflisch and B. Li, Analysis of island dynamics in epitaxial growth of thin films, SIAM Multiscale Model. Simul., 1(1), 150-171, 2003. (Published version © SIAM)
  • B. Li, Finite element analysis of a class of stress-free martensitic microstructures, Math. Comp., 72(244), 1675-1688, 2003. (Published version)
  • K. Bhattacharya, B. Li, and M. B. Luskin, The simply laminated microstructure in martensitic crystals that undergo a cubic to orthorhombic phase transformation, Arch. Rational Mech. Anal., 149(2), 123-154, 1999. (Preprint, Published version)
  • B. Li and M. Luskin, Nonconforming finite element approximation of crystalline microstructure, Math. Comp., 67(223), 917-946, 1998. (Published version)
  • B. Li and M. Luskin, Finite element analysis of microstructure for the cubic to tetragonal transformation, SIAM J. Numer. Anal., 35(1), 376-392, 1998. (Published version © SIAM)
  • H. Chen and B. Li, Superconvergence analysis and error expansion for the Wilson nonconforming finite element, Numer. Math., 69(2), 125-140, 1994. (Preprint, Published version)
  • B. Li, Superconvergence for higher-order triangular finite elements, Chinese J. Numer. Math. Appl., 12(1), 75-79, 1990. (Cited as "a little known but in my opinion important paper" in L. B. Wahlbin, Superconvergence in Galerkin Finite Element Methods, Springer, 1995.)

Last updated by Bo Li on September 24, 2024. © Bo Li, 1998-2024.