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My research trajectory originates from a background in Physics and Mathematics, with an initial focus on foundational problems in quantum mechanics, semiclassical analysis of quantum chaos, statistical mechanics, and the theory of complex dynamical systems. This early work provided the conceptual and mathematical tools that continue to shape my approach to applied research.
Over time, my interests progressively shifted toward the application of complex systems theory and information theory to domains traditionally explored within the Life Sciences and the Humanities. In this context, I developed a mathematical and physical perspective on human languages, with particular attention to their structure, dynamics, and evolution as emergent collective phenomena.
More recently, in collaboration with the Department of Arts at the University of Bologna, I have worked on quantitative methods for extracting narrative and semantic structures from media content—especially television series—by leveraging Large Multimodal Models. This line of research investigates how meaning, storytelling, and collective imaginaries can be analyzed through data-driven and generative approaches.
For the past few years, my main research focus has been urban complexity. In collaboration with the Cineca group led by Eng. Chiara Dellacasa, I am involved in the development of urban digital twins, working in particular on the construction of geometric and physical models of the city of Bologna using aerial data such as LiDAR surveys and orthophotos.
Within this framework, I am increasingly interested in agent-based urban models and in the systemic generation of synthetic urban populations. Rather than assuming the availability of complete and well-structured datasets, my work explores how cities can be modeled as adaptive systems composed of interacting agents, whose behaviors and attributes are generated probabilistically from partial, heterogeneous, and often visual data. This approach underlies the UrbIA framework, where urban dynamics emerge from the interaction between geometry, infrastructure, and generative population models.
In parallel, I maintain a strong interest in generative Artificial Intelligence, particularly probabilistic diffusion models. I have developed an ongoing public lecture, “A.I.: Fake You”, aimed at a general audience, in which concepts such as entropy, irreversibility, and uncertainty are used to introduce the logic of artificial data generation and its implications for scientific modeling and urban simulation.
