PR[AI]RIE Researcher

Barbier Chebbah Alex

I am a theoretical physicist working at the frontier of statistical physics and computational biology. I combine analytical and numerical approaches to understand biological systems using physico-mathematical models. I initially explored random walk theory, studying first-passage events for random walks characterized by long-term memory. Then, I moved on to decision-making theory inspired by physics-based principles, such as the information maximization principle, and applied these to multi-armed bandit systems. Now, I’m focused on how these decision strategies are encoded in small neural circuits such as in Drosophila larvae, aiming to uncover the biological properties of decision-making shaped by embodiment.