The Institute for Non-Equilibrium Phenomena (INEP) is a cross-disciplinary research institute based in Lucca (IT) dedicated to exploring how systems evolve, adapt, and organize under dynamic, non-equilibrium conditions. Our mission is to harness this understanding to address urgent challenges across science, technology, the environment, and society.
Mission:
At INEP, we are dedicated to advancing the understanding of complex systems across disciplines, from the dynamics of financial markets and global economies to the behavior of physical, climatic, and computational systems far from equilibrium.
Our mission is to uncover the fundamental principles that govern balance and imbalance in natural and artificial systems, bridging theory, data, and computation to inform science, society, and policy.
We bring together researchers in physics, economics, finance, climate science, and computer science to foster an integrative approach to complexity — one that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. Through collaboration, open inquiry, and innovation, we aim to illuminate how equilibrium emerges, breaks, and reforms in systems that shape our world.
From the quiet symmetry of physical laws to the turbulent fluctuations of global markets and climates, IEP strives to build a unified scientific language of equilibrium and change, empowering insight, resilience, and foresight in an interconnected era.
Our Core Research Themes.
Driven Systems, Thermodynamics and Complex Dynamics. At the INEP, research on Driven Systems, Thermodynamics and Complex Dynamics seeks to understand how order, structure, and information emerge and persist in systems constantly out of balance. From the energy flows that sustain living and climatic systems to the feedback loops in financial and computational networks, our work explores the physics of persistence under drive, the rules that govern how systems maintain coherence while dissipating energy and information.
We focus on novel approaches to nonequilibrium thermodynamics, including:
- Information thermodynamics and entropy production in adaptive and learning systems;
- Fluctuation theorems and stochastic energetics applied to socio-economic and biological dynamics;
- Thermodynamic geometry and path-dependent processes that link microscopic irreversibility with macroscopic behavior;
- Emergent conservation laws and symmetries in systems driven by external fields or internal feedback;
By linking energy, information, and structure, we seek to construct a modern thermodynamic framework for complex systems — one capable of describing not only equilibrium states, but also the dynamic trajectories through which systems evolve, learn, and adapt.
Climate and Environmental Transitions. Our research in Climate Dynamics and Planetary Nonequilibrium Phenomena seeks to uncover the principles that govern the Earth’s complex, driven climate system — a vast interplay of atmosphere, oceans, biosphere, and human activity. The Institute explores how nonlinear responses and feedbacks emerge from the coupling of physical, biological, and socio-economic processes, shaping both the resilience and fragility of the planet.
We focus on modeling nonlinear climate responses and environmental tipping points arising from both anthropogenic and natural forcing, aiming to identify early-warning indicators of critical transitions. Through the integration of physics-based models, data assimilation, and machine learning, we explore how fluctuations, thresholds, and irreversibility define the trajectory of the Earth system under stress.
Our approach emphasizes the development of predictive tools for risk assessment and uncertainty quantification, bridging scientific understanding with decision-making for sustainable adaptation and mitigation strategies. By combining insights from nonequilibrium thermodynamics, network theory, and statistical physics, we strive to quantify and anticipate cascading effects across interconnected climate and socio-economic domains.
At the planetary scale, we investigate non-equilibrium processes that shape the Earth’s energy and matter cycles — from oceanic circulation and atmospheric convection to biosphere–climate feedbacks that regulate habitability and long-term stability. This integrative framework connects fundamental physics to pressing environmental challenges, aiming to illuminate the deep dynamical principles governing our evolving planet.
Artificial Intelligence and Adaptive Systems. At the Institute for Equilibrium Phenomena, research in Novel Computing Paradigms explores the physical and conceptual foundations of computation as a nonequilibrium process — one that consumes, transforms, and organizes information in dynamic environments.
We investigate how learning, adaptation, and inference emerge from systems poised far from equilibrium, seeking to understand computation not only as an algorithmic procedure, but as a physical phenomenon grounded in thermodynamics, feedback, and energy flow.
Our work spans the design and analysis of neuromorphic and bio-inspired computing architectures, where computation arises from distributed, adaptive interactions rather than rigid control. These systems draw inspiration from biological neural networks, molecular processes, and collective behaviors in nature — embodying self-organization, plasticity, and resilience.
Economics and Finance. At INEP, research in Economics and Finance explores markets and economies as complex adaptive systems, where order and volatility emerge from continual interactions among agents, institutions, and technologies. Rather than static equilibria, we study economies as dynamic, evolving networks shaped by feedback, adaptation, and collective decision-making under uncertainty.
Our approach integrates insights from physics, network science, and computational modeling to understand how macroscopic economic patterns — such as cycles, crises, and growth phases — arise from microscopic adaptive behavior. By focusing on the mechanisms that generate coordination, instability, and innovation, we aim to develop a non-equilibrium perspective on economic and financial dynamics that better reflects the complexity of real-world systems.
We study how heterogeneity, bounded rationality, and learning influence market outcomes and systemic resilience, examining the conditions under which competition, cooperation, and contagion emerge. Our research spans the analysis of:
- Financial markets as evolving ecosystems, where agents adapt to each other’s strategies and to shifting environments;
- Systemic risk and contagion, identifying how shocks propagate through networks of interdependence;
- Adaptive expectations and decision dynamics, exploring how information, incentives, and behavioral biases shape macroeconomic patterns;
- Sustainable economic transitions, analyzing how financial and policy structures can support long-term resilience and equity.
Through this lens, economics and finance become fields for understanding the collective dynamics of adaptation and evolution, offering new pathways toward stability, sustainability, and informed policy in a rapidly changing global landscape.
INEP brings together researchers from physics, computer science, environmental science, engineering, and the social sciences. We promote open collaboration, dynamic thinking, and bold experimentation—pushing the boundaries of what’s possible when science engages with the real world in motion.
INEP 