Credits: Amanda Smith
Welcome to my homepage! I am a tenure-track Assistant Professor (RTDb) of Theoretical Physics within the Department of Physics at the University of Trento, where I am a member of the Theoretical Gravitation and Cosmology group within the Theoretical and Computational Physics laboratory. In addition, I am affiliated to the Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Applications (TIFPA) of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN). I am also Editor of Physics of the Dark Universe, one of the leading journals in the field. Before returning to Trento, where my journey in physics originally started, I was a Newton-Kavli Fellow within the Kavli Institute for Cosmology (KICC) at the University of Cambridge.
My Cambridge whiteboard after interesting discussions with Will Coulton and Atsuhisa Ota on the primordial neutrino background
I am a cosmologist with a strong background in particle theory, interested in addressing fundamental questions about the origin, composition, and fate of the Universe . This basically makes me an universal eavesdropper sticking my nose at the interface of cosmology, astrophysics, particle physics, computational physics, and statistics (usually three or more at a time). I enjoy both working hands-on on real data, especially to find new and creative ways to learn about fundamental physics, as well as doing pen-and-paper calculations. If this sounds interesting, please feel free to contact me, and visit the Research section of my website to find out more about my research!
Snapshot of me at redshift z~2e-11
My worldline is roughly as follows: I started my life in Latina, Italy, born from an Italian dad (breeder) and a Taiwanese mom (former journalist), who now live in Spain. At age 8 I moved further South to Terracina, a wonderful city in Central-South Italy, halfway between Rome and Naples, where I lived until the age of 17.
Terracina, with a clear view of Pisco Montano
Department of Physics of the University of Trento
Yearning for the cold I then moved up North to study physics, go rock-climbing and hiking, and spend 3 wonderful years at the University of Trento, where I got my B.Sc. in Physics. Feeling that wasn’t cold (and rainy) enough, I then moved to the UK to study theoretical physics at Imperial College London on an Erasmus scholarship.
Mount Wellington, Tasmania (first to the left is Alex Millar)
I later realized one of my dreams, namely that of living down under (aka Australia), where I studied theoretical particle physics at the University of Melbourne, and earned my M.Sc. in Physics. But the lure of the old continent was too strong so after that I moved to the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, to work with Subir Sarkar on, among other things, the Sun (suitable topic given my name, I know!)
With my wife Cristina on Monteliusvägen, one of my favorite places in Stockholm
The tales about Scandinavia being one of the best places in the world to live were clearly true, which is why I decided to move further up North to Sweden to work in Katie Freese’s group at Stockholm University. There I spent 4 fantastic years, including 4 extremely dark winters and as many luminous summers, enjoying Swedish fikas and the wonderful Swedish nature and finally earning my Ph.D. in theoretical physics.
Picture taken in Fen Ditton during one of my many early morning bike rides from my time in Cambridge
Immediately after my PhD, I moved to the University of Cambridge to take up a Newton-Kavli Fellowship at the Kavli Institute for Cosmology. There I was fortunate enough to enjoy a variety of things including the British sense of humor, mince pies, pasties, the infamous weather, the beautiful British countryside, the joy of fatherhood as well as, unfortunately, a global pandemic.
Travelling the world was extremely nice, but nothing beats working for one’s home country. In 2022, I was extremely lucky to be offered one of the very few tenure-track positions in Theoretical Physics in Italy. I therefore returned to the University of Trento, where my journey in physics originally started, and where I am now an Assistant Professor in the Theoretical Gravitation and Cosmology group. Over the next years, I will expand the University of Trento’s research activities in cosmology and astroparticle physics.
View towards Mount Paganella from my office at the University of Trento
Outside of physics, I particularly enjoy music. I am a violinist, and earned my violin diploma from Santa Cecilia Conservatory. Some of my most creative physics ideas have come to me while playing the violin. I also play the piano, although I am unfortunately significantly out of practice here!
Sports-wise I particularly enjoy scuba-diving and skiing. The photo on the left was taken in San Felice Circeo, at a depth of about 20 m, near a well-known site known as the Christ of the Circeo. I also enjoy travelling, meeting new cultures, and mastering new languages (with a bit of help from Duolingo). I am fluent in Italian, English, Swedish, Spanish, Fortran, C, C++, and Python, and can easily read Norwegian (Bokmål) and Danish (speaking Danish is a whole different story though!).
And finally, anyone who knows me well knows how much of a football enthusiast I am. I am a huge fan of Juventus (as you probably can tell from the photo on the side), of Latina (the team from my hometown, unfortunately not nearly as known as Juve), and of course of Gli Azzurri, the Italian National team who won their fourth World Cup in 2006 and their second European Championship in 2021.
