Rutgers–Camden Professor Awarded Membership at Eminent Institute for Advanced Study
World’s foremost center for intellectual inquiry was home to Einstein and Oppenheimer
Professor Benedetto Piccoli of the Department of Mathematical Sciences and Center for Computational and Integrative Biology has been awarded membership for this academic year at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton.
Piccoli, who also serves as Rutgers–Camden’s Joseph and Loretta Lopez Chair in Mathematics, is interested in various areas of mathematics with applications in traffic autonomy, crowd dynamics, pharmacology, and biology. While at the IAS, Piccoli will work on adapting fluid dynamic methods to the control of multi-agent systems.
Benedetto Piccoli, Joseph and Loretta Lopez Chair and Professor of Mathematics
Benedetto Piccoli, Joseph and Loretta Lopez Chair and Professor of Mathematics
A multi-agent system consists of multiple decision-making agents that interact in a shared environment, such as gaming, automated market trading, or autonomous driving, to achieve common or conflicting goals. This year, Piccoli published a paper presenting results of modeling and control of large systems of agents. The main applications of this research focus on social systems (such as opinion dynamics), pedestrians’ movements (also called crowd dynamics), animal groups, and vehicular traffic.
A recent experiment showed how these tools may smooth traffic on a real highway. Piccoli received international attention last year for his participation in the world’s largest traffic experiment to test artificial intelligence (AI)-equipped vehicles. In mid-November, 2022, as part of research by the CIRCLES consortium, a 100-vehicle fleet comprising Nissan Rogues, Toyota RAV4s, and a Cadillac XT5 joined the morning rush hour on a stretch of Interstate 24 in Tennessee. This was no ordinary commute; the vehicles were equipped with AI-driven adaptive cruise control, and the stretch of highway was newly outfitted to serve as a testbed for intelligent transportation technologies.
“This was the largest traffic experiment in history with autonomous vehicles on a real highway.”
“This was the largest traffic experiment in history with autonomous vehicles on a real highway,” Piccoli said. He is aiming to continue his research into autonomous innovation while at IAS, where he finds himself among a convivial community of world-class mathematicians and others.
“At the IAS, I have the opportunity to interact with top-notch researchers in various fields of mathematics,” Piccoli said. “Faculty and visitors here include Field Medalists and Abel Prize winners, which are the two top awards for math. I also participate in working groups on problems at the intersection of analysis and geometry, which will benefit my applied research.”
Piccoli added that at the Institute, “there is particularly friendly atmosphere. At the afternoon coffee break, all the researchers gather in groups on the field in front of Fuld Hall to engage in conversation. Often, these informal chats result in new and brilliant ideas.”
The IAS, an independent entity founded in Princeton in 1930, is regarded as one of the world’s leading centers for curiosity-driven basic research. Past faculty have included Albert Einstein, who was one of its first professors and remained at the institute until his death in 1955, and distinguished scientists and scholars including J. Robert Oppenheimer, Kurt Gödel, John von Neumann, and George Kennan.
Piccoli joins other Rutgers faculty at the IAS, one of the world’s foremost centers for intellectual inquiry into the sciences and humanities. The new members will deepen their studies into fields including mathematics, physics, climate, and society.
Each year, the IAS welcomes an international group of more than 200 of the most promising scholars and postdoctoral researchers to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration. Visiting scholars are selected through a highly competitive process by members of a permanent faculty—leaders in their fields—for bold ideas, innovative methods, and deep research questions.
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