Research lines

  • Theoretical and numerical study of transport processes in systems of interacting particles. The theoretical approach is based on the calculation of the transition probabilities of a particle towards neighbouring regions as functions of the excess chemical potential. These probabilities are essential for, for example, the calculation of the diffusion coefficient (collective or of a tracer particle). The methodology includes numerical simulations of molecular dynamics, and comparison with experimental results from other authors.

    (Hoyuelos, Sampayo Puelles, Di Muro, Marchioni y Alés)

  • Study of diffusion in networks whose main characteristic varies between two models, on the one hand a self-similar distribution of jump rates and on the other hand a randomly distributed jump rate. These networks have characteristics of fractal objects. We study the mean square displacement of a particle as well as the electrical resistance, searching for analytical expressions verified by simulations.

    (Iguaín and Padilla)

  • Theoretical and numerical studies of systems far from thermal equilibrium. On the one hand, we are interested in the dynamics of phase transitions, in particular, in regard to their dependence on the rate of change of the parameters controlling these transitions. We plan to approach the problem through minimal models.
    On the other hand, the work aims at understanding the fundamental aspects of the universal dynamics of interfaces or membranes in situations far from equilibrium. In particular, we concentrate on disordered media or on those cases where the active material plays an important role; either as a constituent of one of the phases that is separated by the membrane, or as part of the interface itself.

    (Iguaín)

  • The study of diffusion with interaction has had a derivation in another field: quantum statistics. Using a mean field theory developed in Phys. Rev. E 92, 062118 (2015), we obtain in the case of free diffusion between energy levels not only the Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics, but also the Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac statistics. That is, the hypothesis of a free diffusion coefficient in energy space can be considered as an alternative way of deducing the known quantum statistics. In addition, a fourth statistic emerges, which we call the ewkon statistics, which, given the thermodynamic characteristics of an ewkon gas, is useful for the description of dark energy.

    (Hoyuelos, Sisterna)

  • Different types of complex systems are studied, in particular dynamic processes in complex isolated and interacting networks, such as epidemic propagation processes, cascades of failures, opinions, among others. Not only is a greater understanding of how these dynamic processes work sought, but also strategies are sought to avoid or minimize the effects produced by catastrophic processes such as epidemics or cascades of failures.

    (La Rocca, Valdez, Pérez and Vassallo)

  • Bacterial flagellar dynamics are investigated by introducing models capable of describing the dynamics of flagellar motors at a nanometric scale and, therefore, answering open questions about bacterial microscopic movement, considering those aspects common to mono- or multi-flagellar systems beyond the particular characteristics of each genus and species.

    (Buceta and Torres Rasmussen)

  • Biomarkers are a key component to identify and classify neurodegenerative diseases for optimal treatment. By characterizing and investigating possible abnormalities in the dynamic interconnectivity of the brain, we hope to find biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases. To do so, we will use an integrated evaluation of multiple network metrics and approaches ranging from graph theory, permutation entropy, statistical complexity, transfer entropy, and deep learning methodologies on neurophysiological data from mice and patients with neurodegenerative diseases.

    (Martínez, in collaboration with F. Montagni, M. Granado, R. Baravalle)

  • Basic research on interdisciplinary problems is proposed under the Langevin paradigm, focusing in particular on energy harvesting from environmental fluctuations. Using the concepts of renormalization, Feynman diagrams, path integrals, stochastic thermodynamics and non-equilibrium potential, theoretical studies are carried out that allow the understanding of the dynamics of linear and non-linear energy harvesters, and in turn the effect of unit coupling.

    (Combi, Giuliano, dell’Erba and Sánchez)

  • We investigate self-organizing phenomena in physical, chemical, biological/ecological, and technological (robotics) contexts. We will consider both zero-dimensional and extended systems. In extended systems, we study the impact of attraction and repulsion between the components of a collective affected by a non-linear drift, in order to study symbiosis and competition phenomena. In both extended and zero-dimensional systems, we study the constructive effects of multiplicative noises of various origins. We plan both theoretical and experimental studies, the latter, for now, for zero-dimensional cases.

    (Mangioni, dell’Erba and Combi)

  • We study the geometric pattern on the dorsal carapace of the glyptodont (Mammalia-Cingulata) as an evolutionary process of functional optimization. The carapace of the glyptodont is made up of hundreds of bony pieces called osteoderms. The geometric pattern corresponds to the border between osteoderms and represents the most fragile area. Geometrically, optimization is achieved when the borders between osteoderms and the dispersion of their sizes are minimized. A model for the evolution of the geometric pattern of the carapace is proposed.

    (Dell’Erba and Vassallo, in collaboration with F. Dominguez)

  • The incorporation of noise correlations in growth models changes and/or breaks the symmetries and conservation laws that govern them. Therefore, this leads to a change in the critical exponents that characterize the statistical behavior of surfaces. When the surface is stimulated with noise with long-range temporal correlations, the formation of macroscopic structures that are not simply rough has been found, which are proposed to be characterized using the statistics of the surface as a function of time and the correlation of the applied noise.

    (Alés, in collaboration with J. Martín, E. Fernández-Rodríguez and J.M. López)

  • It is proposed to study how to characterize and measure quantum chaos in complex systems, also in possible implementations of quantum computing. Localization: the study of Anderson localization in random graphs is proposed. These are systems whose tree structure resembles the structure of Fock space, where many-body localization is observed, and that is why these simple systems have recently aroused interest.

    (García Mata)

Extension