Profile
Edoardo Vescovi
My CV
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Education:
Humboldt University Berlin, PhD in 2016
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Qualifications:
PhD in Theoretical Physics
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Work History:
University of São Paulo
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Current Job:
Postdoctoral researcher
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About Me:
I am a theoretical physicist working on simple models of the complex system of nature, at the intersection of mathematics and physics.
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I have been working in research for 6 years in different places and landed in London almost 1 ago. Music, movies and London attractions fill the leisure time.
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My research is of theoretical nature, more similar to mathematics than physics, with no laboratory equipment involved. It is all about simple models of particles that do not directly relate to matter in our universe, but they are simple enough to test and develop mathematical tools that could be used to study matter one day. For example, in these toy models we know how to calculate the force between charged particles and their energy emitted, all this from little input and few basic rules. The dream is that a simple description can be possible for our universe as well. If this doesn’t sound alright yet, take a look at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da-2h2B4faU.
Some of questions we are trying to answer are beautifully illustrated in the booklet
http://physdocu.ethz.ch/downloads/Booklet.pdf.
While my work is done with pencil and paper only, computers help us with the long calculations. Looking at the scratchpad, you’d be surprised that the scribble looks more like hieroglyphics than actual numbers, but the logic is the same of your maths homework: combine some quantities according to some rules and obtain the desired result.
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My Typical Day:
Keeping up to date with latest findings, working on research projects, speaking with collaborators, helping students.
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The typical day begins with checking the email box and reading the latest scientific articles online. It’s basically a desk job with the usual office hours, which I spend doing research, attending our research seminars and discussing new ideas with colleagues in the department or abroad in video chats. I tutor undergraduate students and supervise some of them for their final projects. I occasionally take part in mock interviews for colleagues that are looking for permanent jobs.
Attending conferences with other physicists, presenting my work there and visiting collaborators are important parts of the academic life that makes me travel in the UK and abroad for 1-2 months per year. It allows me to directly interact with other people and address new questions.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
Outreach activity for pupils and their parents.
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The most exciting thing that's happened this year in my research area:
My research is of theoretical nature, more similar to mathematics than physics, with no laboratory equipment involved. While not directly related to mine, a great achievement for theoretical research was the detection of gravitational waves, “ripples” of space that originate from collisions of giant astronomical bodies, much like circular waves travel on the surface of a pond. Gravitational waves have been elusive for a century since their prediction and are often said to be the last prediction of Einstein’s gravitational theory to be observed.
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My latest work:
I am a theoretical physicist working on simple models of the complex system of nature, at the intersection of mathematics and physics. It is all about simple models of particles that do not directly relate to matter in our universe, but they are simple enough to test and develop mathematical tools that could be used to study matter one day. For example, in these toy models we know how to calculate the force between charged particles and the energy emitted by them in the form of light, all this from little input and few basic mathematical rules. The dream is that a simple description can be possible for our universe as well.
Very loosely speaking, in some of these toy models I have recently derived a formula for the light emission of an accelerated particle and a formula for the attraction of baryons (particles qualitatively similar to protons in atomic nuclei).
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My favourite misconception about my area of science:
Many people struggle to grasp how research works in general. I usually have to explain that physics is not nuclear physics and it can be done with calculators and no lab coat.