Francesca Vidotto (born November 22, 1980) is an Italian
theoretical physicist
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experime ...
.
Biography
She earned her
UG/
MA in
theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...
at the
University of Padova and the
PhD as double-degree at the
University of Pavia
The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...
and the
Aix-Marseille Université. Afterwards she was a
postdoc researcher at the universities of
Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
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,
Nijmegen and
Bilbao
)
, motto =
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. She was awarded a Rubicon (2012) and a Veni (2014) fellowship by the
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research
The Dutch Research Council (NWO, Dutch: Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) is the national research council of the Netherlands. NWO funds thousands of top researchers at universities and institutes and steers the course o ...
.
Since 2019 she is an Assistant Professor of
Physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
&
Astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...
and
Philosophy at the
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames R ...
, where she holds a
Canada Research Chair
Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program.
Program goals
The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...
in
Foundations of Physics
''Foundations of Physics'' is a monthly journal "devoted to the conceptual bases and fundamental theories of modern physics and cosmology, emphasizing the logical, methodological, and philosophical premises of modern physical theories and procedur ...
. She is also a core member of Western's Rotman Institute of Philosophy.
Her research explores the
quantum aspects of the
gravitational field, in the framework of
Loop Quantum Gravity. Her work covers topics from the cosmological and astrophysical applications of
quantum gravity to the reflections on the nature of
space-time and the foundations of
quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistr ...
. She is best known for two research directions:
Spin foam
In physics, the topological structure of spinfoam or spin foam consists of two-dimensional faces representing a configuration required by functional integration to obtain a Feynman's path integral description of quantum gravity. These structur ...
Cosmology
Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...
, and
Planck star
In loop quantum gravity theory, a Planck star is a hypothetical astronomical object, theorized as a compact, exotic star, that exists within a black hole's event horizon, created when the energy density of a collapsing star reaches the Plan ...
s, with special emphasis on
white hole
In general relativity, a white hole is a hypothetical region of spacetime and singularity that cannot be entered from the outside, although energy-matter, light and information can escape from it. In this sense, it is the reverse of a black ho ...
s and
black hole remnants.
Publications
Scientific book
* ''Covariant Loop Quantum Gravity: An elementary introduction'' (with
Carlo Rovelli), Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Main scientific papers
* ''Primordial Fluctuations from Quantum Gravity'' (with Francesco Gozzini), 2019.
* ''Quantum insights on Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter'', 2018.
* ''Planck stars'' (with Carlo Rovelli), 2014.
* ''Maximal acceleration in covariant loop gravity and singularity resolution'' (with Carlo Rovelli), 2013.
* ''Towards spinfoam cosmology'' (with
Eugenio Bianchi
Eugenio Bianchi is an Italian theoretical physicist and assistant professor at the Pennsylvania State University who works on loop quantum gravity and black hole thermodynamics. He has derived the Bekenstein-Hawking formula S=\frac for the ent ...
and
Carlo Rovelli), 2010.
Towards spinfoam cosmology
in ''Physical Review D 82 (8), 084035''
References
External links
*
20th-century Italian physicists
21st-century Italian physicists
Italian women physicists
women physicists
theoretical physicists
1980 births
Living people
People from Treviso
University of Padua alumni
Academic staff of the University of Western Ontario
Women relativity theorists
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