Swansea Theoretical Cosmologist wins International Prize

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A Swansea University theoretical cosmologist has won an international prize for his research.

PPCT group

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr Gianmassimo Tasinato of the Physics Department's Particle Physics and Cosmology Theory (PPCT) group has recently won the 2016 Buchalter Cosmology Prize (third prize) for his paper, co-authored with researchers based in Canada and USA.  The paper was praised as “A remarkable paper that sheds light on how quantum fluctuations exiting the Hubble scale are rendered into the classical large-scales of our Universe, detailing a process by which gravitational interaction triggers this transition."

In the paper, the authors apply the framework of open quantum systems, originally developed  in the context of optics and lab-based quantum mechanical systems, to the Universe at very large scales and relate fluctuations generated during inflation to observables in the cosmic microwave background.

After learning that he had won the prize, Gianmassimo said: "It was a great surprise and honour to win this prize. As theoretical cosmologists, our aim is to develop methods to unravel the mysteries of the universe, a prize like this is an added bonus!"

The Buchalter Cosmology Prize was instituted by Dr Ari Buchalter, a former researcher in theoretical astrophysics, who left academia to apply quantitative methodologies from science to problems in pricing and analysis of ''big data''.

The PPTC group carries out research in theoretical particle physics, in topics ranging from quarks and gluons to string theory, and more recently also in theoretical cosmology.

Read the research here

Learn more about the Particle Physics and Cosmology Theory Group here