Speaker: Ton Coolen (King's College London)

Title: Solvable model of an immune network on a finitely connected heterogeneous graph with extensively many short loops

Abstract: The immune system can recall and execute a large number of memorized defense strategies in parallel. The explanation for this ability turns out to lie in the topology of immune networks. We studied a statistical mechanical immune network model with "coordinator branches" (T-cells) and "effector branches" (B-cells), and show how the finite connectivity enables the system to manage an extensive number of immune clones simultaneously, even above the percolation threshold. The model is solvable using replica techniques, in spite of the fact that the network has an extensive number of short loops.