Statistical Physics and Complex Systems

Group “Statistical Physics and Condensed Matter”

The activities of the “Statistical Physics and Complex Systems” team cover a wide spectrum of research topics. One direction concerns the statistical physics of open quantum systems (out of equilibrium), and the development of models and analytical tools to study non-equilibrium steady states. The team moreover focuses strongly on the statistical physics of complex systems and complex networks, from the study of their structure to the study of dynamical processes on networks, and is a pioneer in the study of temporal networks and hypergraphs. Since the network paradigm can be used to describe many systems of different origins and natures, our research is interdisciplinary, including interactions with the social sciences, epidemiology, computer science, and neuroscience.

The team also participates in the Convergence Institute CENTURI and has developed a very dynamic activity towards life sciences. It hosts PIs partially funded by CENTURI, whose research topics concern collective effects and self-organization in living systems, cell mechanics, and neuroscience. They interact with experimental groups in particular at IBDM and INMED.

The methods used by the team members range from rigorous mathematical tools to numerical simulations and the analysis of empirical data, covering the full range of standard approximation tools in statistical physics.