Research
Most things in the world are made up of systems of interacting parts, such that their global behavior is greater than the sum of their constituents. Such systems are often referred to as Complex Systems, with defining features that include the formation of complex networks and non-linear interactions between components. Examples include the human brain, financial markets, social media, urban systems, infrastructure such as the internet, and socio-economic constructs more broadly.
We are a team of highly interdisciplinary researchers who study these systems using tools from Statistical Physics, Non-Linear Dynamics, Network Theory, Information Theory, and Machine Learning, grounded in a data-driven approach. Our work is both theoretical and applied, with recent research exploring:
- How do urban systems scale, evolve, and structure patterns of human mobility, inequality, and social coordination?
- What universal principles govern the robustness, adaptation, and evolution of infrastructure, communication, and knowledge networks?
- How do interventions—whether public health policies or algorithmic nudges—propagate through complex, interconnected systems?
- What mechanisms underlie decision-making, navigation, and strategic behavior in individuals and collectives?
- How does meaning emerge from information in living, cognitive, and artificial systems?
- What distinguishes adaptive, agent-like behavior from passive dynamics across scales—from neurons to cities?
Our work spans theoretical and applied domains, including plant genomic networks, robust information search, empirical laws in cities, low-dimensional models of socio-economic dynamics, and game-theoretical analyses of political systems. More recently, we have contributed to the development of information-theoretic frameworks for agency and emergence, and to practical tools for understanding mobility-targeted interventions, AI alignment, and distributed collective behavior.
Across these areas, we are particularly interested in uncovering universal mechanisms that underlie coordination, adaptation, and the emergence of meaning. Our collaborations bridge physics, computer science, neuroscience, and philosophy, with an emphasis on integrative, cross-disciplinary inquiry.
Our research has been published in leading journals such as Nature, Science, and Physical Review Letters, and featured in media outlets including The New York Times, The Economist, and MIT Technology Review.
To learn more, click on the Publications section