I started a PhD with the LISA group after my Master's studies here in Trento, during which I focused on fundamental interactions and experimental physics. I found in the LISA mission a nice way to reconcile my passion for General Relativity with my desire to work in the laboratory. I am now mainly working with a torsion pendulum, used to test the LISA technology. In my free time I love climbing and playing board/video games!

Investigating acceleration noise sources for the future LISA gravitational wave observatory

I will give a brief introduction of the LISA mission, mainly focusing on the importance of limiting stray accelerations on the free falling test masses, the instrument cores. I will then talk about some of the main noise sources, how they are investigated in the laboratory and through studies of LISA Pathfinder data.

My name is Leonardo Chiesa and I am a second-year PhD student in the theoretical ''Relativistic & Nuclear Astrophysics'' group. I joined the group in November 2021 after having obtained both my BSc and MSc degrees at the University of Trento. My scientific interests regard the study of binary neutron-star mergers via state-of-the-art numerical simulations, with a particular focus on the associated nucleosynthesis and on the microphysics implementation.

Microphysics in Binary Neutron-star Mergers:

the role of neutrinos and muons

Binary neutron-star mergers represent one of the most active research fields in contemporary nuclear and relativistic astrophysics. Performing accurate simulations of these events requires the modeling of many different physical ingredients that could be relevant for the dynamics of the coalescence. During the talk I will present my ongoing work on the implementation of microphysics effects aimed at improving the accuracy and reliability of our simulations.

I am originally from Liguria, and completed my undergraduate and graduate studies in Turin and Rome, now I am a PhD student in particle physics at Unitn. My research focuses on the design and characterization of particle detectors for space applications, and I am also studying the development of flexible interconnections for pixel detectors and front-end electronics at FBK.

Large-size LYSO:Ce crystals for electromagnetic calorimetry in space:

qualification and characterization of the HEPD-02 energy detector

L(Y)SO:Ce is a commonly used material for precision calorimeters due to its high density, high light yield, fast decay time, and excellent energy resolution. HEPD-02 on board the CSES-02 satellite mounts two layers of LYSO:Ce scintillating crystals, each consisting of three bars of 150x50x25 mm3. This study presents the characterization of these crystals.

I earned my master’s degree in physics at the University of L’Aquila with a thesis on the transmission of the compressional fluctuation from the solar wind to the magnetosphere, which has been published on Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences.

In my Phd, I’m working on the determination of an electromagnetic ionospheric background using CSES satellite data and the detection of anomalous electromagnetic signals possibly correlated to seismic activity.

Determination of the ionospheric electromagnetic background and detection of electromagnetic anomalies

A new technique was developed to determine a background in the ionospheric electromagnetic (EM) emissions using the entire CSES-01 electric and magnetic field dataset. Geomagnetic activity in term of the Sym-H index is considered in order to make a robust discrimination between external (e. g. solar activity) and internal (e. g. seismic activity) sources of ionospheric signals. EM signals which differ from the background are worthy to be investigated.

Stefano Toffaletti is a high school physics teacher and a Ph.D. student in physics at the University of Trento, Italy. His research group develops teaching-learning sequences for high school and university students and his major research interest is in scientific civic education. During his Ph.D., he is studying the physical bases of the greenhouse effect and climate change.

Civic scientific literacy: design of a teaching-learning sequence for the understanding of climate change

The reintroduction of civic education in Italian schools was the motivation for redesigning an effective sequence for learning the physical bases of the greenhouse effect and climate change. This sequence was designed both to be offered to university and high school students and as a teacher training course. Research has shown the choices made in the design of the sequence can contribute to effective understanding of the topics. In this talk the design phases and the results obtained from the real experimentation of the sequence will be presented.

I am a doctoral student in ECT* under the supervision of Dionysios Triantafyllopoulos. I am trying to have some fun by investigating high energy physics. I was born in Guatemala where I also graduated with a bachelor degree in Physics, then performed some studies on Quantum Field Theories in Balseiro Institute, Argentina. I moved to Saint Petersburg, Russia, to attend a master degree in Nuclear and Elementary Particle Physics. Afterwards, I moved to Trento to start my PhD program that I will discuss about in my talk.

Gluon saturation, small-x evolution and incoherent processes

At ultra-relativistic energies the degrees of freedom in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) are quarks and gluons and their interactions can be calculated with weak coupling methods. For sufficiently high energies, the gluon density becomes large leading to strong non-linear effects whose description is the goal of the Color Glass Condensate effective theory. We will discuss such a theory by having a look on incoherent diffractive dijet production in electron-nucleus deep inelastic scattering.

I obtained the bachelor’s degree in physics and the master’s degree in experimen-tal physics in Trento. My master’s studies mainly focused on medical physics, biophysics especially on the computational side. I conclude the master with the thesis ”2D topological materials: a computational study of ring networks to characterize the properties of kDNA” under the supervision of prof. Luca Tubiana. Last year I started my PhD in plasma catalysis under the supervision of prof. Luca Matteo Martini and prof. Paolo Tosi.

Effects of catalyst support on plasma

assisted processes

Plasma catalysis is considered an emerging branch of plasma processing which is highly versatile and can be used in many green chemistry applications such as CO2 recycling and the production of specialty chemicals. The choice of the proper catalyst support is crucial for coupling the plasma to the catalyst. In my contribution, I will focus on the development of a plasma-catalytic reactor for dry reforming (CO2+CH4) and hydrogenation of nitrogen for ammoniaproduction.

I am Marco and I got both the bachelors degree and the master;s degree in physics at University of Trento. I’m working on FLASH radiotherapy in the BiMeR research group, between TIFPA, University of Trento and Trento Proton Therapy Center, with an international collaboration with GSI (Darmstadt). I’m focusing on understanding and optimization of physical parameters dependence for FLASH proton therapy scanning.

Across the stages: a multiscale model for unraveling the FLASH effect

FLASH radiotherapy is a novel treatment approach that allows a larger sparing of healthy tissue and unchanged tumor effectiveness with respect to conventional delivery. In recent years, a large amount of experimental evidence confirmed this FLASH effect; however, the mechanism remains to date largely unexplained. We develop a multiscale model to couple the evolution of DNA damages and the radiation chemistry as an insight in the FLASH biological mechanism.

I studied Physics in Trento, I’ve just started the 2nd year of my PhD and I’m one of the Physics PhD representatives. I’m part of the Bio-Medical Radiation Physics (BiMeR) group, with Dr. F. Tommasino as supervisor. My research focuses on proton therapy (mainly with an experimental perspective), constantly collaborating with the Trento Proton Therapy Center and TIFPA.

Development of a proton computed tomography system for proton treatment planning

The high ballistic precision of a therapeutic proton beam is one of its main advantages of proton therapy compared to a photon treatment. To fully exploit this potential, it is crucial to have an accurate estimation of protons’ range inside the patient. My PhD project proposes a novel method to measure the 3D stopping power map of the target volume through the proton computed tomography system recently developed in the framework of INFN-funded research projects.

I am Gianmarco, a PhD student in the “Statistical and Biological Physics” Group and the NanoScience Laboratory here at UniTrento. My PhD position is funded by the “BACKUP” ERC Project and involves modelling and simulating how the brain stores memory. Before joining UniTrento, I obtained my BSc and MSc in Physics at UniCattolica in Brescia.

Modelling astrocytes as meta-plasticity actors

in the memory engram formation play

Over the last 2 decades scientists have acknowledged the important role of glial cells, astrocytes in particular, in the storage of memory by the brain. In this talk, I will present my current model, based on random walk on a network, which aims at describing one possible interaction, i.e. meta-plasticity, through which astrocytes can be involved in memory formation.

I am Ludovica Zullo, a 2nd year Ph.D. student at University of Trento and Sorbonne Université. My research activity is focused on theoretical investigation of two-dimensional materials and their technology applications. Beside that, my hobbies are art, exploring new places, enjoying the company of my friends and searching for casual magic moments.

Misfit Layer Compounds: a tale of the perfect misMATCH

Misfit Layer Compounds (MLCs) are layered materials consisting of n-layers Transition Metal Dichalcogenides and Rocksalt structures with huge lattice mismatch.

In this talk I will show that the technological strength of MLCs lies in the differences between their elementary constituents and a way to predict their properties by means of Density Functional Theory.

I graduated from the University of Trento in Theoretical and Computational physics, area of Condensed Matter and Quantum Gases, in July 2021. After a period spent studying with ab-initio techniques the ground state properties of hypernuclei and so-called Halo nuclei, I came back to my original field of interest, namely that of ultracold atomic gases and related topics.

Casimir interaction between impurities

in a 1D Fermi sea

The introduction of one or more impurities (polarons) into a 1D Fermi gas produces modifications of the system's observables which can be quantified by means of modern quantum methods. Moreover, in the bipolaron case the interaction between the single impurities and the fermions leads to a Casimir interaction between the impurities themselves. The resulting two-body problem can then be addressed and solved for a full characterization.

My name is Manuel Micheloni and I’m PhD student working in the Statistical and Biological Physics group.

My PhD project focuses on the assessment of the kinetic properties of soft-matter systems in coarse-grained models. Specifically, I am interested in the behavior of DNA/RNA molecules in out-of-equilibrium conditions that can be associated with some relevant biophysical/medical applications.

Dynamical and kinetic assessment of

DNA double-strand breaks

The covalent cut of the DNA backbone over both strands (i.e. double-strand breaks) is a detrimental outcome of several endogenous and exogenous agents, leading to chromosomal aberrations and cell apoptosis. In the early stages of the evolution of a DSB, the thermal disruption of the residual interactions between the DNA moieties drives the fracture of the helical layout; in spite of its biological significance, the details of this process are still largely uncertain.

I have addressed the mechanical rupture of DNA by DSBs via molecular dynamics simulations, employing a coarse-grained model of DNA to access the molecular details and characteristic timescales of the rupturing process.

I obtained my master’s degree in Physics at the University of Milan, focusing on statistical physics applications in biophysics and developing a particular interest in the physical modeling of proteins. Currently, I am a second-year PhD student in the Statistical and Biological Physics group, where I mainly employ MD simulations for the investigation of biological macromolecules of medical interest.

Pore-forming toxins: investigating the action mechanism with MD simulations

The γ-hemolysin is a protein released by bacteria that causes the lysis of the host cells by producing pores on their cytoplasmic membrane. Several stages of the pore-forming mechanism have already been captured thanks to X-ray crystallography experiments, but very little is known about the entire process. During the talk, I will show how MD simulations can complement experiments in detecting the relevant mechanisms of pore formation.