Giampaolo Folena

Theoretical Physicist | Complex Systems | Disordered Models | Artificial Chemistries | Evolutionary Dynamics

I am a theoretical physicist working at the interface of statistical mechanics, complex systems, and evolutionary theory. My research spans two main themes: the physics of disordered systems and the emergence of adaptive structure in artificial chemistries.

Disordered Systems: Spin Glasses, Jamming, and Nonequilibrium Dynamics

My early work focuses on the geometry and dynamics of disordered and frustrated systems. These include spin glasses, structural glasses, and jammed packings — systems where disorder and constraints generate complex, high-dimensional energy landscapes.
I study how such systems organize without design, exploring transitions such as jamming and glass formation, weak ergodicity breaking, and marginal stability.

Methods: analytical approaches from statistical mechanics (replica and cavity theory), random matrix methods, and large-scale simulations.
Goal: to understand how disorder and frustration give rise to structure, metastability, and slow dynamics.

Artificial Chemistries and Evolutionary Dynamics

My current work extends these ideas to adaptive and evolving systems. Artificial chemistries serve as minimal models for open-ended evolution, where entities interact, replicate, and evolve functions in dynamic environments.
This research investigates how function, complexity, and hierarchy emerge spontaneously in systems driven far from equilibrium.

Methods: simulations, network theory, and information-theoretic measures of complexity.
Goal: to identify statistical principles underlying innovation and organization in evolving systems.