Photo of Gabriele Di Ubaldo
Research Fields
Theoretical physics, Conformal Field Theory, Quantum Gravity, Quantum Chaos
Term and History
2024/10/01 - Postdoctoral Researcher

Self-introduction

I am broadly interested in understanding quantum gravity as an emergent phenomenon. This is the case in the AdS/CFT correspondence where a d+1-dimensional theory of quantum gravity (usually a string theory) emerges from the collective dynamics of a d-dimensional Conformal Field Theory (CFT) with many degrees of freedom. I believe this is a beautiful example of Anderson's principle "More is different", where many-body quantum systems (the CFT) can exhibit striking and unexpected collective behaviour (Gravity). I am particularly interested in the role of quantum chaos and thermalization in the correspondence between CFT and black hole physics and how to explain and derive gravitational phenomena, such as wormholes, using CFT and the tools of the conformal bootstrap.
More broadly, I am interested in many-body quantum systems, disordered systems, classical and quantum chaos, and diverse topics in math, such as random matrix theory, analytic number theory (modular forms), topological recursion, and three-manifold geometry.
If you are working on any of these topics or are simply interested, I'll be happy to talk physics!

Previously, I obtained my PhD at the Institut de Physique Theorique in Paris, CEA Saclay, working with Eric Perlmutter, and my master's degree at Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris.

Looking forward to my time at RIKEN and UC Berkeley!

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