Theoretical Condensed Matter and Biological Physics
Sternberg Family Distinguished University Professor
PhD University of Rome, 1994
Alessandro Vespignani research activity is focused on the study of “techno-social” systems, where infrastructures composed of different technological layers are interoperating within the social component that drives their use and development. In this context we aim at understanding how the very same elements assembled in large number can give rise – according to the various forces and elements at play – to different macroscopic and dynamical behaviors, opening the path to quantitative computational approaches and forecasting power.
The main research lines pursued at the moment are:
- Develop analytical and computational models for the co-evolution and interdependence of large-scale social, technological and biological networks.
- Modeling contagion processes in structured populations.
- Developing predictive computational tools for the analysis of the spatial spread of emerging diseases.
- Analyze the dynamics and evolution of information and social networks.
- Model the adaptive behavior of social systems.
Phase transitions in contagion processes mediated by recurrent mobility patterns, D. Balcan and A. Vespignani Nature Physics, 7, 581-586 (2011).
The Flu Fighters, Colizza, V., and A. Vespignani. Physics World. 23, no. 2: 26-30 (2010).
Predicting the behavior of tecno-social systems, A. Vespignani, Science. 325: (5939): 425-428, (2009).
Multiscale mobility networks and the spatial spreading of infectious diseases. Balcan, D., V. Colizza, B. Goncalves, H. Hu, J. J. Ramasco, and A. Vespignani. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 106 (51): 21484-21489, (2009).
Dynamical processes on Complex Networks. A. Barrat, M. Barthelemy and A. Vespignani. Cambridge University Press (2008).