Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Recorded as part of the The Physics of the Heart and Teaching BioPhysics in the Classroom (#cardiot-c26) conference from the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) at the University of California, Santa Barbara on Saturday, April 4, 2026.
The human heart is both a marvel of biology and a living demonstration of physical principles in action, uniting molecular, cellular, and organ-level dynamics into a single rhythmic system. Each heartbeat arises from the collective behavior of billions of cells communicating through waves of electrical excitation, nonlinear signals that can synchronize into steady rhythms producing the regular contractions of the heart.
During arrhythmias, these electrical waves can become disorganized, creating complex and irregular patterns such as spiral waves that drive uncoordinated contractions, disrupt normal blood flow, and can become life-threatening. In both normal and arrhythmic conditions, the organization of these waves exhibits emergent behavior that arises not only across multiple scales but also across dimensions, from the dynamics of a single cell (0D) to one-dimensional strands of tissue, two-dimensional wave fronts, and the full three-dimensional geometry of the whole organ. At each level, emergent patterns and instabilities arise from the interplay between the dynamics of ion channels governing current flow across individual cell membranes and the collective cells coupling within the complex architecture of cardiac tissue, which together shape the propagation of electrical waves and resulting mechanical contractions.
In this Teachers’ Conference, we explore how physics, mathematics, combined using computer simulations and experiments reveal the principles that govern the heart’s rhythm, and how this understanding is leading to new ways to control and prevent cardiac disorders. Topics will include excitable-media dynamics, wave propagation and spiral waves, defibrillation, and emerging therapeutic technologies such as pulsed-field ablation. These concepts will be discussed through the lens of fundamental physical ideas such as diffusion, nonlinearity, chaos, and pattern formation in living systems, highlighting how they can be incorporated into the classroom to engage students at the interface of physics, biology, and medicine.
The conference includes talk by speakers who are leaders in experimental, theoretical, and computational biophysics, participating in the KITP program “Multi-Scale Physics of Normal and Diseased Heart: From Ion Channels to Whole Organ.” In addition to talks, the conference will feature interactive presentations (experimental and computational) where participants engage directly with demonstrations that illustrate key physical and biological principles, activities they can later adapt for use in their own classrooms to teach biophysics.
Coordinator: Flavio Fenton
More information: https://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/activities/cardiot-c26
__________________________________
What is a KITP Teachers' Conference?
The KITP is dedicated to a series of one-day conferences designed to bring high school and 2-year college science teachers in the U.S. into close contact with some of the world's leading experts in the most exciting current areas of forefront physics research. This is done in conjunction with KITP programs and conferences, which bring to Santa Barbara many of the world's leaders in a given research area to advance the scientific frontiers in that area through discussion and research collaboration.
The conferences are scheduled to give ample time for questions and discussions from the audience, with talks typically about 40 minutes followed by an interaction period of 15-20 minutes. At lunch and breaktimes, participants engage in meaningful conversations with physicists and other teachers on science, teaching, and encouraging diverse students to continue their physics learning through university and beyond.
__________________________________
Learn more at: https://www.kitp.ucsb.edu
Connect with KITP everywhere:
𝕏 https://x.com/@kitp_ucsb
🦋 https://kitp-ucsb.bsky.social
▶ youtube.com/@KITP_UCSB
💻 linkedin.com/company/kavli-institute-for-theoretical-physics
__________________________________
The position of the KITP is that ownership and copyright of all online material -- slides, text, audio, video, and podcasts -- belongs to the author. KITP is providing dissemination for these materials but does not claim ownership. Any person citing these materials for scholarly purposes should provide an appropriate scholarly reference.
Recorded as part of the The Physics of the Heart and Teaching BioPhysics in the Classroom (#cardiot-c26) conference from the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) at the University of California, Santa Barbara on Saturday, April 4, 2026.
The human heart is both a marvel of biology and a living demonstration of physical principles in action, uniting molecular, cellular, and organ-level dynamics into a single rhythmic system. Each heartbeat arises from the collective behavior of billions of cells communicating through waves of electrical excitation, nonlinear signals that can synchronize into steady rhythms producing the regular contractions of the heart.
During arrhythmias, these electrical waves can become disorganized, creating complex and irregular patterns such as spiral waves that drive uncoordinated contractions, disrupt normal blood flow, and can become life-threatening. In both normal and arrhythmic conditions, the organization of these waves exhibits emergent behavior that arises not only across multiple scales but also across dimensions, from the dynamics of a single cell (0D) to one-dimensional strands of tissue, two-dimensional wave fronts, and the full three-dimensional geometry of the whole organ. At each level, emergent patterns and instabilities arise from the interplay between the dynamics of ion channels governing current flow across individual cell membranes and the collective cells coupling within the complex architecture of cardiac tissue, which together shape the propagation of electrical waves and resulting mechanical contractions.
In this Teachers’ Conference, we explore how physics, mathematics, combined using computer simulations and experiments reveal the principles that govern the heart’s rhythm, and how this understanding is leading to new ways to control and prevent cardiac disorders. Topics will include excitable-media dynamics, wave propagation and spiral waves, defibrillation, and emerging therapeutic technologies such as pulsed-field ablation. These concepts will be discussed through the lens of fundamental physical ideas such as diffusion, nonlinearity, chaos, and pattern formation in living systems, highlighting how they can be incorporated into the classroom to engage students at the interface of physics, biology, and medicine.
The conference includes talk by speakers who are leaders in experimental, theoretical, and computational biophysics, participating in the KITP program “Multi-Scale Physics of Normal and Diseased Heart: From Ion Channels to Whole Organ.” In addition to talks, the conference will feature interactive presentations (experimental and computational) where participants engage directly with demonstrations that illustrate key physical and biological principles, activities they can later adapt for use in their own classrooms to teach biophysics.
Coordinator: Flavio Fenton
More information: https://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/activities/cardiot-c26
__________________________________
What is a KITP Teachers' Conference?
The KITP is dedicated to a series of one-day conferences designed to bring high school and 2-year college science teachers in the U.S. into close contact with some of the world's leading experts in the most exciting current areas of forefront physics research. This is done in conjunction with KITP programs and conferences, which bring to Santa Barbara many of the world's leaders in a given research area to advance the scientific frontiers in that area through discussion and research collaboration.
The conferences are scheduled to give ample time for questions and discussions from the audience, with talks typically about 40 minutes followed by an interaction period of 15-20 minutes. At lunch and breaktimes, participants engage in meaningful conversations with physicists and other teachers on science, teaching, and encouraging diverse students to continue their physics learning through university and beyond.
__________________________________
Learn more at: https://www.kitp.ucsb.edu
Connect with KITP everywhere:
𝕏 https://x.com/@kitp_ucsb
🦋 https://kitp-ucsb.bsky.social
▶ youtube.com/@KITP_UCSB
💻 linkedin.com/company/kavli-institute-for-theoretical-physics
__________________________________
The position of the KITP is that ownership and copyright of all online material -- slides, text, audio, video, and podcasts -- belongs to the author. KITP is providing dissemination for these materials but does not claim ownership. Any person citing these materials for scholarly purposes should provide an appropriate scholarly reference.
