Symmetries of Gravity: from the Early Universe to Black Holes

Symmetries are at the core of our understanding and description of most physical phenomena across all accessible energy scales, from the organization of the structures at the largest distances in the Universe to the physics governing the fundamental interactions of subatomic particles. The focus of my talk will be on gravitational theories. I will show examples of Goldstone bosons in cosmology and discuss the role of non-linearly realized symmetries of gravity. I will then present recent developments in the context of symmetries of black holes and their relevance for gravitational-wave astronomy.

Bio: I obtained my Ph.D. from Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, in 2016. I was then a postdoctoral research scientist first at Utrecht University and later at Columbia University. I am currently a research fellow at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste. My primary research interests and my main original scientific contributions are in the context of effective field theories, theoretical cosmology and black holes.