Research

My main research interest is the extraction of continuum physics from quantum gravity, focusing in particular on the emergence of cosmological and black hole spacetimes. I am also interested in renormalization and in the definition of physical notions of localization and evolution through the relational strategy, both issues being central to the study and description of emergent continuum physics within quantum gravity.

Quantum Gravity

General relativity and quantum mechanics are the two fundamental physical theories that have shaped our understanding of the world. Constructing a theory of quantum gravity, i.e. a coherent synthesis of general relativity and quantum mechanics, is one of the outstanding challenges of modern theoretical physics. Despite the difficulties, decades of theoretical effort have provided us with many insights into the nature of quantum gravity, and thus into the true nature of space and time.

From the perspective of quantum gravity, the continuum flow of time and space that we experience in our everyday lives is only emergent, resulting from the collective behavior of fundamental “quantum gravity atoms” living outside of space and time, like molecules in a liquid. Studying quantum gravity means understanding not only what are the properties that characterize these “quantum gravity atoms” and what kind of processes they undergo, but also how our universe emerges from the behavior of these microscopic objects.