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 , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

, Nijmegen and

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

. 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 ...

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 {{Italy-physicist-stub