EPIC Lab. Emergent Phenomena from Interactions & Constraints, i.e., the physics of collective decisions. Assistant Professor in Physics, Seoul National University. Associate Faculty at Complexity Science Hub. https://eltrompetero.github.iohttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mxr77iam3k27I'm proud to announce that @mbpesendorfer.bsky.social, @bjenquist.bsky.social, and I have been awarded an Austrian Science Fund @fwf-at.bsky.social project at @bokuvienna.bsky.social #forests #ecology #ecosystems #nonlineardynamics #physics #vienna #austria https://www.fwf.ac.at/en/research-radar/10.55776/PAT428892613 Oct 2026 14:04 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mxr77iam3k27https://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mx6yefyhps2cIf you're in #Vienna tomorrow evening, @oritpeleg.bsky.social will be giving a public lecture on how fireflies sync their rhythm at @csh.ac.at. Moderated by yours truly. #complexity #collectivebehavior 🧪🦋06 Oct 2026 08:14 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mx6yefyhps2chttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mwadjvpgms2pAs a former #NSF #GRFP I got an email asking about participating in the review process. But what I would like to know is the extent to which decisions are based on scientific merits vs political considerations. We’re living in a time where unfortunately this needs to be explicitly clarified.24 Sep 2026 03:41 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwadjvpgms2phttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mvzqiio6es23Why is political science so adamant that the "issue space" is fixed??? It doesn't have to be, and it's not. This is a central assumption of the spatial voting theory frameworks, and people still cling onto it today. See Martin & Quinn and Poole & Rosenthal. 🧪🦋21 Sep 2026 12:44 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvzqiio6es23https://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mvrcktcrg225Delighted to be here today!18 Sep 2026 04:14 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvrcktcrg225https://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mvkvm7uhfs23Reading Douglas North and the importance of transaction costs in economic activity, which has played no role in neoclassical theory. Yet, they are prominent in an exchange-based economy.15 Sep 2026 15:06 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvkvm7uhfs23https://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mvjgqy2ezs22Korean version of the EPIC page just dropped eltrompetero.github.io/ko/index.html https://eltrompetero.github.io/ko/index.html15 Sep 2026 01:07 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvjgqy2ezs22https://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mvezsxmf422vStatistical mechanics ~= statistical learning The former aims for minimal complexity in representation, the latter maximal. Thus, one can formulate a statistical mechanics of learning, but not vice versa.13 Sep 2026 07:05 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvezsxmf422vhttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mvcmwnyjbc2h'The aphorism that one may have won the battle but lost the war is encapsulated in the notion of a “Pyrrhic victory.” Costly short-term gains must be balanced against the longer-term uncertainties, opportunities, or challenges that may emerge in competitive environments.' 🧪🦋 https://doi.org/10.1103/63cv-52fj12 Sep 2026 08:09 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvcmwnyjbc2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mugfikojrs2vSNU workflow = admin bloat Get email in Korean -> translate copy -> navigate to website -> 2-factor login -> find form -> apply for doc to be issued -> pop-up fails -> install "security" software -> pop-up opens -> security software fails to find printer -> take a screenshot -> uninstall software01 Sep 2026 02:42 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mugfikojrs2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mtxksemsnc2eIn other news, #Seoul National takes faculty dental hygiene very seriously 😁 #facultylife26 Aug 2026 05:07 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtxksemsnc2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mtl2iedqjk2gThe EPIC Lab is here21 Aug 2026 05:43 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtl2iedqjk2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3msd2z2xdmc2tIt’s official. The EPIC Lab’s new headquarters are at #Seoul National University’s Department of Physics & Astronomy as of this week. We’re recruiting graduate students! https://physics.snu.ac.kr/en/research-faculty/faculty/fulltime?mode=view&profidx=5505 Aug 2026 08:06 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3msd2z2xdmc2thttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mrn4cmxy5i2uHell yeah! [contains quote post or other embedded content]27 Jul 2026 14:30 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrn4cmxy5i2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mpor5ythq22mTo #migrate is a decision that depends on others. This has overlooked dynamical consequences. New #preprint with @kushwaha.bsky.social and Woi Sok Oh Collaboration between @csh.ac.at @uwaterloo.ca #NonlinearDynamics #Physics #Complex arxiv.org/abs/2606.30604 (1/5) 🧪🦋 https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.3060402 Jul 2026 19:26 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpor5ythq22mhttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mpnjl4hxm22nThanks for the call out! [contains quote post or other embedded content]02 Jul 2026 07:37 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpnjl4hxm22nhttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mpdkfcwra222NYT writes “Testing Truce.” Wouldn’t it be planner to write that the truce has been broken?28 Jun 2026 08:25 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpdkfcwra222https://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mojiwyo52k25Get ready for something EPIC! Starting this fall at #Seoul National University, a new research group will be coalescing. *** For prospective int'l graduate students, apps for the PhD program are open July 6–9; rec letters due July 10. *** #physics #complex #complexity #phd #graduate17 Jun 2026 23:50 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mojiwyo52k25https://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mobeflsnns23In Cordwainer Smith’s Rediscovery of Man, the future is taken back to the past, technology revoked, disease embraced, making civilization “great” again. “I myself was the first man to put a postage stamp on a letter…We watched at the eye -dash machine when cholera was released in Tasmania…”14 Jun 2026 18:08 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mobeflsnns23https://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mo2ayexphs2hHad a great time teaching and meeting the folks at @igfae.gal at the summer school and #datascience and #complexsystems11 Jun 2026 22:18 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mo2ayexphs2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mng5ftapjs23ConIII v4.0 is out 🎉 The Convenient Interface to Inverse Ising — a Python package for pairwise maxent / inverse-Ising inference. New: NumPy 2 + Python 3.13, modern build, reorganized API, docs, and a faster solver. pip install coniii 📖 coniii.readthedocs.io #Python #maxent #compneuro 🧪🦋 https://coniii.readthedocs.io03 Jun 2026 22:20 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mng5ftapjs23https://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mmbzin44r22r#Turin! This week we’re discussing Computational Social Science in #Italy #complex #physics 🧪🦋 @cs2italy.bsky.social20 May 2026 13:35 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmbzin44r22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mlpxod62pk2gA preview of "a planet where life has been reduced to absolute simplicity." Karol Jałowchowski, filmmaker of the scientific world, was at @csh.ac.at last year. Here's a preview of his work, a tour through the mind of Complexity Science Hub through an outrageous hypothesis. https://youtu.be/NhwKDoRUs0c?si=gCqSDGmg1H-EK_cw13 May 2026 09:14 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlpxod62pk2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mlowzz7v3c2eLevi-Strauss on the natural environment as a conceptual apparatus that allows “savage” societies to order the world around them. The maps are many but he raises the question of if the logical structures are universal.12 May 2026 23:30 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlowzz7v3c2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mhnqams3sc2cLove this attitude: "In 1963 Wilson joined the Cornell physics department and was soon given tenure even though he had hardly published." https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2013/06/physics-nobel-laureate-kenneth-wilson-dies 1/222 Mar 2026 14:15 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhnqams3sc2chttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mgxer7lhz22fI would like to say I’m shocked about this but this is only the latest in a sequence of actions against common sense and scientific evidence that are beyond the pale. [contains quote post or other embedded content]13 Mar 2026 16:51 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgxer7lhz22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/spintheory.bsky.social/post/3mgwzzeh62c2p#Peace is fragile. And #conflict is much more #complex than a few world leaders deciding where to shoot missiles or send troops. A little thread coming from our years of work on the #physics of #conflict... 🧪🦋13 Mar 2026 13:39 +0000at://did:plc:aarhypvsdz23rahjcwo3mkoc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgwzzeh62c2p