Silvia Morlacchi’s research while affiliated with Scuola Normale Superiore and other places

The effect of transport noise on a 2D fluid may depend on the space-scale of the noise. We investigate numerically the dissipation properties of very small-scale transport noise. As a test problem we consider the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and we compare the inviscid case, the viscous one, both without noise, and the inviscid case perturbed by transport noise. We observe a partial similarity with the viscous case, namely a delay of the instability.

We propose a Markovian model to understand how Italy's public sphere behaves on the green energy transition theme. The paper uses the example of solar photovoltaics as a point of reference. The adoption decision is assumed to be sequentially influenced by the network communication of each person or family and the payback period of the investment. We apply the model for a case study based on the evolution of residential PV systems in Italy over the 2006-2026 period. The baseline configuration of the model is calibrated based on the actual diffusion of residential PV in Italy from 2006 to 2020. The comprehensive analysis leads to a discussion of two interesting societal implications. (1) Cognitive biases such as hyperbolic discounting of individual future utility crucially influence inter-temporal green choices. (2) Individual green choices count for the effect that it has on the chances that other individuals will also make a choice, in turn abating other greenhouse gas emissions.

The effect of transport noise on a 2D fluid may depend on the space-scale of the noise. We investigate numerically the dissipation properties of very small-scale transport noise. As a test problem we consider the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and we compare the inviscid case, the viscous one, both without noise, and the inviscid case perturbed by transport noise. We observe a partial similarity with the viscous case, namely a delay of the instability.

This work deals with Green Energy Transition, focusing on the problem of understanding subjects' reactions to the urgency of a change and inputs coming from governments. We use the example of solar photovoltaic as a concrete example and compare our models to data. We develop two models following two sets of assumptions: a Markovian model of interacting particle systems and a MFG model. In both cases, we derive the scaling limit deterministic dynamics. We compare the two dynamics to Italian solar photovoltaic data identifying periods where the first model describes the behavior of domestic data well and a period where the second model captures a particular feature of data corresponding to companies. The comprehensive analysis, which is integrated by a philosophical inquiry focusing on the conceptual vocabulary used and the correlative implications, leads to the formulation of hypotheses about the efficacy of different forms of governmental subsidies.

We study string breaking in the three-dimensional SU(2) Higgs model, using values of the gauge coupling for which the confinementlike and Higgs-like regions of the phase diagram are separated just by a smooth crossover. We show that even in the presence of string breaking, the confining part of the interquark potential is well described by the effective string theory and that also the fine details of the effective string, like the higher order terms of the Nambu-Goto action or the boundary correction, can be precisely extracted from the fits and agree with the effective string predictions. We comment on the implications of these results for QCD simulations with dynamical quarks.

We study string breaking in the three dimensional SU(2) Higgs model, using values of the gauge coupling for which the confinement-like and Higgs-like regions of the phase diagram are separated just by a smooth crossover. We show that even in the presence of string breaking, the confining part of the interquark potential is well described by the Effective String Theory and that also the fine details of the effective string, like the higher order terms of the Nambu-Goto action or the boundary correction, can be precisely extracted from the fits and agree with the effective string predictions. We comment on the implications of these results for QCD simulations with dynamical quarks.

We consider the three dimensional SU(2) Yang-Mills theory with adjoint static color sources, studying by lattice simulations how the shape of the flux tube changes when increasing the distance between them. The disappearance of the flux tube at string breaking is quite abrupt, but precursors of this phenomenon are present already when the separation between the sources is smaller than its critical value, a fact that influences also some details of the static potential.

We consider the three dimensional SU(2) Yang-Mills theory with adjoint static color sources, studying by lattice simulations how the shape of the flux tube changes when increasing the distance between them. The disappearance of the flux tube at string breaking is quite abrupt, but precursors of this phenomenon are present already when the separation between the sources is smaller than its critical value, a fact that influences also some details of the static potential.