Hello world!

Andrea Ladiana

PhD Student in Mathematics · Associative Neural Networks & Statistical Mechanics

I'm a PhD Student in Mathematics at Sapienza University of Rome and member of the Agliari-Barra Lab "CoScienza".

Research

Research Interests

I am broadly interested in memory systems and collective behaviour. I work with models where many simple units, when connected in the right way, can store patterns, retrieve them, and support each other's computations. This includes classical and modern associative networks, multi-layer architectures where different modules communicate, and abstract memory fields that can be analysed with tools from mathematics, statistical physics, and machine learning.

A recurring theme in my work is cooperation across modules: how several interacting memories can jointly denoise signals, disentangle overlapping information, or build a shared representation, and how this behaviour changes when the system is distributed, noisy, or evolving. I like to push these ideas beyond standard neural-network settings – towards biological and immune systems, where repertoires and populations behave like diffuse memories, and towards more exploratory applications involving biomes and complex interacting populations shaped by many local interactions over time.

Publications

Publications

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Conferences

Conferences Organized

Other interests

Other interests

I spend most of my free time folding paper.

My main hobby is origami, especially modular designs and floral models. I'm particularly fond of modular origami, constructions made from many repeated units that lock together into geometric structures (see, for example, the origami by Michał Kosmulski). I also admire the clean and structural approach of Tomoko Fuse, whose books on unit origami and geometric models helped shape how I think about paper as a medium for building mathematical objects.

On the more organic side, I love floral origami. One of my all-time favourite diagrams is the Pentagon Rose by Naomiki Sato (diagram), a rose built from a pentagonal base that manages to look surprisingly natural while still being very structured.

At some point I started trying to put these two worlds together and I am slowly writing a children's book about origami and mathematics (but more generally deals with the connection between the former and physics, biology, art, and culture). The idea is to show how symmetry, counting, and geometry hide inside folds, in a way that is playful rather than intimidating. It is very much a side project and progresses in bursts whenever time allows, but it remains one of the long-term things I'd like to complete.

Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments of Leó Szilárd

Below this section I like to include "The Ten Commandments of Leó Szilárd", a short list of personal principles written by the Hungarian-American physicist best known for his work on nuclear chain reactions and his reflections on science and responsibility.

  1. Recognize the connections of things and laws of conduct of men, so that you may know what you are doing.
  2. Let your acts be directed toward a worthy goal, but do not ask if they will reach it; they are to be models and examples, not means to an end.
  3. Speak to all men as you do to yourself, with no concern for the effect you make, so that you do not shut them out from your world; lest in isolation the meaning of life slips out of sight and you lose the belief in the perfection of creation.
  4. Do not destroy what you cannot create.
  5. Touch no dish, except that you are hungry.
  6. Do not covet what you cannot have.
  7. Do not lie without need.
  8. Honor children. Listen reverently to their words and speak to them with infinite love.
  9. Do your work for six years; but in the seventh, go into solitude or among strangers, so that the memory of your friends does not hinder you from being what you have become.
  10. Lead your life with a gentle hand and be ready to leave whenever you are called.
Leó Szilárd, The Voice of the Dolphins & Other Stories