The adaptive immune system is a dynamical, self-organized multiscale system that protects vertebrates from both pathogens and internal irregularities, such as tumours. For these reason it fascinates physicists, yet the multitude of different cells, molecules and sub-systems is often also petrifying. Despite this complexity, as experiments on different scales of the adaptive immune system become more quantitative, many physicists have made both theoretical and experimental contributions that help predict the behaviour of ensembles of cells and molecules that participate in an immune response. Here we review some recent contributions with an emphasis on quantitative questions and methodologies. We also provide a more general methods section that presents some of the wide array of theoretical tools used in the field.

中文翻译：

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物理学家的定量免疫学

适应性免疫系统是一种动态的、自组织的多尺度系统，可保护脊椎动物免受病原体和内部不规则性（如肿瘤）的侵害。由于这些原因，它让物理学家着迷，但大量不同的细胞、分子和子系统通常也令人震惊。尽管存在这种复杂性，随着适应性免疫系统不同规模的实验变得更加定量，许多物理学家做出了理论和实验贡献，帮助预测参与免疫反应的细胞和分子集合的行为。在这里，我们回顾了一些最近的贡献，重点是定量问题和方法。我们还提供了一个更通用的方法部分，其中介绍了该领域使用的一些广泛的理论工具。