The geometry of estimation and the nature of mathematical models
Speaker: Prof. Andrea De Gaetano
(CNR-IRIB)
DEIB - "A. Alario" Seminar Room (Bld. 21)
July 2nd, 2025 | 5.30 pm
Contact: Prof. Giuseppe Baselli
(CNR-IRIB)
DEIB - "A. Alario" Seminar Room (Bld. 21)
July 2nd, 2025 | 5.30 pm
Contact: Prof. Giuseppe Baselli
Abstract
On July 2nd, 2025 at 5.30 pm the seminar titled "The geometry of estimation and the nature of mathematical models" will take place at DEIB "Alessandra Alario" Seminar Room (Building 21).
Mathematical modeling has become pervasive in applications, not only in physics or economy, but also in biomedicine and other “soft” sciences. To the conceptual formulation of a model there often follows its identification by statistical parameter estimation, given available observations. While the nature of the modeling process as well as its relationship with the attending statistical computations could both appear obvious to the practitioner, it may be useful to formalize them in a precise way. Insight into the process of (linear and nonlinear) model parameter estimation can be obtained from the description of the geometry of estimation in case space. The objective then is to also describe the geometry of modeling in the abstract, and to show how the correspondence between the conceptual context and the computational context can be formally represented.
Mathematical modeling has become pervasive in applications, not only in physics or economy, but also in biomedicine and other “soft” sciences. To the conceptual formulation of a model there often follows its identification by statistical parameter estimation, given available observations. While the nature of the modeling process as well as its relationship with the attending statistical computations could both appear obvious to the practitioner, it may be useful to formalize them in a precise way. Insight into the process of (linear and nonlinear) model parameter estimation can be obtained from the description of the geometry of estimation in case space. The objective then is to also describe the geometry of modeling in the abstract, and to show how the correspondence between the conceptual context and the computational context can be formally represented.
Short Bio
Andrea De Gaetano is a biomathematician with Director of Research (full professor) tenure with CNR since 2001, currently working as Director of the CNR Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation in Palermo. A certified emergency surgeon by training (Italy), he attained both M.Sc. (USA) and Ph.D. (France) degrees in Applied Mathematics, is a Juris Doctor with Italian Bar license and Doctor Honoris Causa (BioStatistics). He is Adjunct Professor of Mathematical Statistics, Mahidol University Dept. of Mathematics, Bangkok Thailand as well as Distinguished Professor (Full Professor with research endowment) with Obuda University, Budapest. His research interests focus on the mathematical modelling of physiological systems with ODEs, Stochastic and Fractional differential equations, and on the attending estimation of the model parameters from experimental observations. He has published so far over 270 full-length papers on international peer-reviewed journals, largely on the mathematical modelling of energy metabolism (Google Scholar metrics: 282 documents, 12163 citations, h-index 47). He has taught Mathematical Statistics at the Universities of Urbino, Copenhagen and Mahidol Bangkok. He has obtained approx 5.1 MEuro funding for research through a series of EC-financed FP and H2020 projects, foreign financed grants and several Italian projects (Ministry of Research, Ministry of Defense). He is Past President of the European Society for Mathematical and Theoretical Biology, and has served as the Italian National Academic delegate to the NATO Scientific and Technical Organization, Human Factors and Medicine Panel and to EDA European Defense Agency, Captech Simulation.
