<< We show that approximate AS can occur in systems with distributed delay in the coupling between the driver and driven units. We study this analytically for linear systems, and numerically for chaotic dynamics. In simple cases AS is exact, also in the face of distributed delay.
Anticipated synchronization in systems with distributed delay
arxiv.org/abs/2603.02918
(with David Ortiz del Campo, Raúl Toral)
Anticipated synchronisation is the counterintuitive phenomenon in which a driven dynamical system synchronises with the *future* state of the driver. >>
Fun was had writing this
"A diffusion approximation for systems with frequent weak resetting"
by yours dearly.
arxiv.org/abs/2602.21635
... provide an analysis of details of the implementation. We compare the accuracy & efficiency of both methods for different examples. Iterative algorithm is the better choice for problems with simple boundaries, Monte Carlo method better for problems with complex boundaries.
Numerical methods for quasi-stationary distributions arxiv.org/abs/2510.02891
(with Sara Oliver-Bonafoux, @javi-aguilar.bsky.social , Raúl Toral).
We discuss an iterative method to obtain QSDs of stochastic processes with absorbing states, and a Monte Carlo scheme with resetting. We ...
Joke about efficient market hypothesis: "Eugene Fama and a friend are walking down a street, and see a $100 bill. Fama says: Must be fake, otherwise someone would have picked it up already."
(Seen in @doynefarmer.bsky.social's book "Making sense of chaos").
Review "Opinion dynamics: Statistical physics and beyond"
arxiv.org/abs/2507.11521
Lab experiments, data, models, analytical/computational tools. 93 pages, >1k references.
With Fabian Baumann, David Garcia, Gerardo Iñiguez, Márton Karsai, Jan Lorenz, Katarzyna Sznajd-Weron. Led by Michele Starnini
<<< allows us to analytically calculate the power spectrum of oscillations. We explore when these approximations break down and provide recommendations for their use.
<<< We describe multiple levels of approximation (rate eps, piecewise-deterministic processes, SDEs), and show that the chemical Langevin equation can include a noise representing transcriptional bursting. This decreases computation times and >>>
Efficient approximations of transcriptional bursting effects on the dynamics of a gene regulatory network
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
(with Jochen Kursawe, Antoine Moneyron)
Transcriptional bursting induces oscillations otherwise not present, or magnifies existing oscillations. >>>
4 postdoc positions in complex systems at IFISC, Palma de Mallorca. Call open until 20/10/25, but positions will be filled starting immediately. If interested, please apply now. Candidates must be EU citizens.
Breaking co-existence: zealotry vs nonlinear social impact
(w Chris Kitching, Lucía Ramirez, @maxisanmiguel.bsky.social)
arxiv.org/abs/2505.21407
Zealotry breaks coexistence in voter models, partisan voter models, and evolutionary games. We show that sublinear social impact can prevent this.
181.71 million km, sorry
“It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material.”
(Watson & Crick 1953)
“It is worth noting that an essential feature of the type of theory which has been described in this note is the prediction of incomplete multiplets of scalar and vector bosons.”
(Higgs 1964)
“In this paper, we present Google, a prototype of a large-scale search engine […].”
(Brin & Page 1998)
“We wish to suggest a structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid (D.N.A.). This structure has novel features which are of considerable biological interest.”
(Watson & Crick 1953)
"The small boys came early for the hanging", this is the opening line of @kenfollettauthor.bsky.social's Pillars of the Earth.
Does anyone have examples of exceptional opening lines of scientific papers (or any other memorable quotes)?
I give a few below. Other examples welcome.
“[...] nonperiodic solutions are ordinarily unstable with respect to small modifications, so that slightly differing initial states can evolve into considerably different states."
"The feasibility of very-long-range weather prediction is examined in the light of these results.”
(Lorenz 1963)
"Proliferating active disks with game dynamical interaction" (with A. Almodóvar, C. López)
arxiv.org/abs/2503.02555
Self-population enhances mixing in coexistence games, speeds up extinction in coordination games, and reduces the invasion probability of a beneficial mutant.
Predictability of temporal network dynamics in normal ageing and brain pathology
(preprint with Lisa Caligiuri, Massimiliano Zanin, @wetuad.bsky.social, and others)
arxiv.org/abs/2502.16557
<< how many opinions are present in the population. We also show that there is a transition between a phase which the system is mostly in consensus (low innovation rate), and another phase in which consensus is rare (high innovation rate). On networks, degree heterogeneity affects this balance.
A voter model with an evolving number of opinion states
(with Jeehye Choi, Byungjoon Min)
arxiv.org/abs/2502.14696
We study a VM in which new opinion states can emerge in the dynamics. Adapting methods previously used in theoretical evolutionary biology we compute >>
The joys of science. (This is one single resubmission, not the 11th time that we resubmit this manuscript).
Do mathematical paradoxes, like the Monty Hall problem, blow your mind? Well, they're for beginners... Today I discovered there's a paradox, that you can recreate yourself anytime, way crazier. Welcome to the Coin Rotation Paradox 🤯
youtu.be/FUHkTs-Ipfg?...
via @veritasium.bsky.social
🚨 Annual IMPRS Call for Doctoral Positions at MPI-EvolBio 🚨
🎓 Fully-funded 3.5-year doctoral projects available in diverse research areas!
#PhD #ResearchOpportunities #IMPRS #Science evolbio.mpg.de/3801127/annu...
<<< boundary of the action simplex: a fraction of the actions are played with vanishing probability.
We also calculate the critical exploration rate that guarantees convergence to a unique fixed point.
[To be published in AAAI (Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence) 2025]
Asymptotic Extinction in Large Coordination Games
(with Desmond Chan, Bart De Keijzer, Stefanos Leonardos, Carmine Ventre)
arxiv.org/abs/2412.15461
We show that, for large random coordination games, Q-Learning converges to a Quantal Response Equilibria near the >>>
Physics stories ⚛️
Pauli lecturing
In one of his lectures, Pauli said of an assertion: "That's trivial". A student remarked: "I don't really understand why that's trivial." Pauli then left the lecture hall without saying a word. When he hadn't returned after five minutes,
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