Venue
Nordita, Stockholm, Sweden
Scope
This satellite meeting will focus on the emerging area of fluctuations in non-Markovian processes, particularly self-interacting and reinforcement learning (RL) processes, an increasingly relevant topic across statistical physics and machine learning that has found numerous applications in recent years from protein folding to self-driving cars, securing two Nobel prizes only this year.
While most fluctuation theories are currently grounded in Markov processes, many feedback and reinforcement learning models are inherently non-Markovian, as self-interaction mechanisms enable the system to adapt and gradually optimise a reward. The non-Markovian nature of these systems poses unique challenges and opportunities for understanding fluctuations, which are critical for ensuring the stability, efficiency, and robustness of learning schemes in complex environments. Advancing our knowledge of fluctuations in non-Markovian systems not only deepens theoretical insights but also enhances the reliability and allows for a generalisation of RL systems, making them more effective for real-world applications.
Themes and preliminary program schedule
The meeting will bring together 40-50 leading researchers and young scientists to discuss the latest developments in this field, including the mathematical modeling of non-Markovian processes, the impact of fluctuations on learning dynamics, and the potential for novel algorithms that leverage these insights. We aim to explore the interplay between statistical physics, feedback processes and reinforcement learning, fostering interdisciplinary collaborations and new directions for research.
Time |
Monday 21/07 |
Tuesday 22/07 |
Wednesday 23/07 |
| 8.30 - 8.50 | Registration (Nordita 6th floor) | ||
| 8.50 - 9.00 | Opening remarks | ||
| 9.00 - 10.00 | Juan P. Garrahan - TBD | Janusz Meylahn - Fluctuations and algorithmic collusion by multiagent reinforcement learning | Sandeep Juneja - TBD |
| 10.00 - 10.30 | Jamie Mair - Connecting large deviation theory and rare events to reinforcement learning and large language model post-training | Olivier Pierre-Louis - Control of cluster shape and particle navigation in fluctuating colloidal systems | Deepak Gupta - Inference of time delay in stochastic systems |
| 10.30 - 11.00 | Break - Coffee and biscuits | Break - Coffee and biscuits | Break - Cofee and biscuits |
|
11.00 - 11.30 |
Antonio Celani - Learning to navigate in complex environments... |
Francisco Cao-Garcia - Information in the thermodynamics of feedback-controlled systems |
Kristian S. Olsen - Harnessing non-equilibrium forces to optimize work extraction |
|
11.30 - 12.00 |
...Antonio Celani - Learning to navigate in complex environments |
Reinaldo Rosa - Detecting and Predicting Anomalies in Non-Markovian Systems Using LSTM-Autoencoders |
Christain Beck - Fluctuation statistics of energy consumption in power grids |
| 12.00 - 12.30 | Gianluca Peri - Training walkers with reinforcement learning | TBD | TBD |
| 12.30 - 14.00 | Lunch break | Lunch break | Closing remarks |
| 14.00 - 15.00 | Amarjit Budhiraja - Large deviations for some self-Interacting processes | Rosemary J. Harris - Large deviations in processes with memory | |
| 15.00 - 15.30 | Julien Bremont - Persistence exponents and propagators of self-interacting random walks | Venkata D. Pamulaparthy - Towards neural reinforcement learning for large deviations in nonequilibrium systems with memory | |
|
15.30 - 16.30 |
Fika and discussion (Nordita 6th floor) |
Fika and discussion (Nordita 6th floor) |
|
|
16.30 - 17.00 |
Poster Session (Nordita 6th floor)... |
Carlos Perez-Espigares - Making rare events typical in chaotic maps |
|
|
17.00 - 17.30 |
...Poster Session (Nordita 6th floor) |
Tuan Pham - Irreversibility in non-reciprocal chaotic systems |
|
|
19.00 - onward |
|
Social event - TBD |
Invited speakers
- Prof. Amarjit Budhiraja (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US) - https://abudhiraja.web.unc.edu/
- Dr. Janusz Meylahn (University of Twente, NL) - https://www.meylahn.com/
- Dr. Rosemary J. Harris (University College London, UK) - https://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucahrh0/
- Prof. Antonio Celani (ICTP, IT) - https://www.ictp.it/member/antonio-celani#biography
- Prof. Juan P. Garrahan (University of Nottingham, UK) - https://jpgarrahan.github.io/About.html
- Prof. Sandeep Juneja (Tata Institute Mumbai, IN) - https://www.tcs.tifr.res.in/~sandeepj/
Contributed speakers (confirmed - continuously updating)
- Prof. Carlos Perez Espigares (Universidad de Granada, ES)
- Dr. Tuan Pham (Max Planck Institute for Complex Systems, DE)
- Julien Bremont (Sorbonne Universite, FR)
- Dr. Olivier Pierre-Louis (CNRS, ILM-Lyon, FR)
- Venkata Dhruva Pamulaparthy (University College London, UK)
- Dr. Kristian S. Olsen (Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, DE)
- Dr. Deepak Gupta (Technische Universität Berlin, DE)
- Prof. Christian Beck (Queen Mary, University of London, UK)
- Prof. Reinaldo R. Rosa (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, BR)
- Gianluca Peri (Universita degli Studi di Firenze, IT)
- Dr. Jamie Mair (University of Nottingham, UK)
- Prof. Francisco J. cao-Garcia (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, ES)
Accommodation
Unfortunately, we are unable to provide accommodation for workshop attendees due to limited funding availability.
Please be aware that scammers sometimes approach participants claiming to be able to provide accommodation and asking for credit card details. Do not give this information to them! If you are in any doubt about the legitimacy of an approach, please get in contact with the organisers.
Travel support
A very limited number of travel grants are available exclusively for PhD students and early-career Postdocs based in Europe. If you wish to apply for a grant, you must indicate your interest in the registration form and include a detailed estimate of your travel expenses (note: grants cover travel costs only, not accommodation).
Application/Registration
If you wish to participate in the workshop, please complete the registration form.
Registration deadline: 16 May 2025
Registration fee: None
Registrants will receive a participation confirmation from the organisers after this date.
The registration is closed for contributed talks, but it will stay open for contributed posters and for attendance.
Organising committee
- Francesco Coghi (Nottingham University, UK)
- Lorenzo Buffoni (Universita degli Studi di Firenze, IT)
- Hugo Touchette (Stellenbosch University, RSA)
- Supriya Krishnamurthy (Stockholm University, SE)
- Ralf Eichhorn (Nordita, SE)
Sponsored by:
Featured by StatPhys29: https://statphys29.org/
