Unification of cell division control strategies through continuous rate models

Recent experiments support the adder model for E. coli division control. This model posits that bacteria grow, on average, a fixed size before division. It also predicts decorrelation between the noise in the added size and the size at birth. Here we develop a theory based on stochastic hybrid systems which could explain the main division strategies, including not only the adder strategy but the whole range from sizer to timer. We use...