Commisariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA) - France
CEA-Saclay is a large research centre that was created in the fifties to deal with nuclear energy. It has since expanded in a large number of directions, including theoretical physics, statistical physics, environmental science and biology. Services de Physique Théorique et de l'EtatCondensé are two groups in the same building, sharing many projects, in particular in modelling complex systems, for example granular media, glasses and self-propelled assemblies. These groups are very well known internationally, with a large flow of students, Post-Docs and visitors. The computer resources at CEA are also very important.
Main tasks in the project: CEA will explore and study the mechanisms that lead to the mergence of endogenous instabilities and crises. Agent based models and numerical simulations will be used in order to identify the effects of such instabilities on both the individual decision making process as well as on interactions and feedback. CEA will also devise and investigate mathematical models for expectation and decision, alternative to utility maximisation, that take into account limited processing resources,
uncertainty, learning & heuristics, framing, habits, etc.
Key CEA personnel working on this project
Jean-Philippe BOUCHAUD, Senior Exécutive
PhD in Physics from the Ecole Normale Supérieure in 1985. He was appointed by the CNRS until 1992. After a year spent in the Cavendish Laboratory (Cambridge), he joined the Service de Physique de l'Etat Condensé (CEA-Saclay), where he worked on the dynamics of glassy systems and on granular media. He became interested in economics and theoretical finance in 1991. His work in finance includes extreme risk models, agent based simulations, market microstructure and price formation. He has been very critical about the standard concepts and models used in economics and in the financial industry. He founded the company Science & Finance in 1994 that merged with Capital Fund Management (CFM) in 2000. He is now the President and Head of Research at CFM, and also professor at the Ecole Polytechnique since 2008. He was awarded the IBM young scientist prize in 1990 and the C.N.R.S. Silver Medal in 1996. He has published over 250 scientific papers and several books in physics and in finance.
Giulio BIROLI, Permanent Member
PhD in Physics from Ecole Normale Supérieure in 2000. After two years of Post-Doc at Rutgers, he was appointed by CEA-Saclay in 2002. He works on statistical physics, disordered systems, the glass transition and the quantum many body problem. He is one of the brightest young theoretical physicists, and has won the Boltzmann medal for young researchers in 2007.
Francesco ZAMPONI, Postdoctoral fellow
He got his Ph.D. in Physics from the university of Rome in 2006; in 2007 he was postdoctoral fellow at LPT, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France as well as at SPhT Saclay, Paris. In 2007 he was awarded an EU Marie Curie Fellowship (LPT, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France). In 2009 he was visiting fellow, Princeton Center for Theoretical Science (PCTS), Princeton, NJ (USA). Presently he works at at CNRS (Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris). Research interest: physics of disordered systems
Marco TARZIA, Postdoctoral fellow
PhD in Physics from the university of Naples in 2005, presently at Université Paris VI (Jussieu). Research interest: physics of disordered systems