Claudia de Rham

Last updated

Claudia de Rham
Born (1978-03-29) 29 March 1978 (age 46)
Alma mater École Polytechnique
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
University of Cambridge
Known for de Rham–Gabadadze–Tolley massive gravity
Awards Blavatnik Award (2020)
Adams Prize (2018)
Scientific career
Doctoral advisor Anne-Christine Davis

Claudia de Rham (born 29 March 1978) is a British theoretical physicist of Swiss origin working at the interface of gravity, cosmology, and particle physics. She is based at Imperial College London. She was one of the UK finalists in the Physical Sciences and Engineering category of the Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists in 2018 for revitalizing the theory of massive gravity and won the award in 2020.

Contents

Early life and education

De Rham was born in Lausanne. [1] She completed her undergraduate studies in France, receiving a Diplôme d'Ingénieur in physics at the École Polytechnique in Paris in 2000. [2] She received a master's degree in physics from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in 2001. [2] In 2002, de Rham moved to the UK, achieving a PhD in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge on "braneworld cosmology beyond the low-energy limit". [3] She has trained as a pilot and made it through several stages of the European Space Agency's astronaut selection process. [4]

Research

After earning her PhD, de Rham went to Montreal to join the physics department at McGill University. [5] [6] She moved to McMaster University in Hamilton and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, in 2006, where she worked in a joint postdoctoral position in cosmology. [7] In 2010, she joined the University of Geneva as an assistant professor. [8] [9] She moved to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2011 and became an associate professor there in 2016. [10] [11] She joined Imperial College London in 2016. That year, she was awarded a £100,000 Wolfson Merit Award from the Royal Society. [12] [13]

Her research is in the area of theoretical cosmology, and she explores gravitational models that could explain the accelerated expansion of the universe. De Rham is recognised as a researcher at the forefront of the development of theories of massive gravity, where the particle carrier of the gravitational force, the graviton, may be massive. [14] In 2010, she constructed a nonlinear[ clarification needed ] theory of a massive graviton, which is theoretically consistent and ghost-free. [15] [16] That formulation of massive gravity is now known as "de Rham-Gabadadze-Tolley (dRGT) theory", owing to its discovery by de Rham, Gregory Gabadadze, and Andrew J. Tolley. [15] Her research helps tackle the problem of the cosmological constant and could describe the accelerated expansion of the universe as a purely gravitational effect, where massive gravitons are responsible for dark energy. [2]

In 2015, she gave a TEDx talk titled "Nature of the Graviton". [14] She gives regular public lectures about theoretical cosmology. [17] [18] [19] [20]

De Rham was interviewed by Morgan Freeman in season 8 of Through the Wormhole . [21]

Publications

In November 2023, de Rham co-authored The Encyclopedia of Cosmology, Set 2: Frontiers in Cosmology, Volume 1: Modified Gravity, with Andrew J Tolley, also of Imperial College London. [22]

Awards and leadership roles

See also

Related Research Articles

In theories of quantum gravity, the graviton is the hypothetical quantum of gravity, an elementary particle that mediates the force of gravitational interaction. There is no complete quantum field theory of gravitons due to an outstanding mathematical problem with renormalization in general relativity. In string theory, believed by some to be a consistent theory of quantum gravity, the graviton is a massless state of a fundamental string.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gravity</span> Attraction of masses and energy

In physics, gravity (from Latin gravitas 'weight') is a fundamental interaction primarily observed as mutual attraction between all things that have mass. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the strong interaction, 1036 times weaker than the electromagnetic force and 1029 times weaker than the weak interaction. As a result, it has no significant influence at the level of subatomic particles. However, gravity is the most significant interaction between objects at the macroscopic scale, and it determines the motion of planets, stars, galaxies, and even light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Randall</span> American theoretical physicist

Lisa Randall is an American theoretical physicist and Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University. Her research includes the fundamental forces of nature and dimensions of space. She studies the Standard Model, supersymmetry, possible solutions to the hierarchy problem concerning the relative weakness of gravity, cosmology of dimensions, baryogenesis, cosmological inflation, and dark matter. She contributed to the Randall–Sundrum model, first published in 1999 with Raman Sundrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Krauss</span> American particle physicist and cosmologist (born 1954)

Lawrence Maxwell Krauss is a Canadian-American theoretical physicist and cosmologist who taught at Arizona State University (ASU), Yale University, and Case Western Reserve University. He founded ASU's Origins Project in 2008 to investigate fundamental questions about the universe and served as the project's director.

In theoretical physics, massive gravity is a theory of gravity that modifies general relativity by endowing the graviton with a nonzero mass. In the classical theory, this means that gravitational waves obey a massive wave equation and hence travel at speeds below the speed of light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giorgi Dvali</span> Georgian physicist (born 1964)

Georgi (Gia) Dvali is a Georgian theoretical physicist. He is a professor of theoretical physics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, a director at the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich, and holds a Silver Professorship Chair at the New York University. His research interests include String theory, Extra dimensions, Quantum gravity, and the Early universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean M. Carroll</span> American theoretical cosmologist (born 1966)

Sean Michael Carroll is an American theoretical physicist and philosopher who specializes in quantum mechanics, cosmology, and the philosophy of science. He is the Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. He was formerly a research professor at the Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) department of physics. He also is currently an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute, and he has been a contributor to the physics blog Cosmic Variance, where he has published in scientific journals such as Nature as well as other publications, including The New York Times, Sky & Telescope, and New Scientist. He is known for his atheism, his vocal critique of theism and defence of naturalism. He is considered a prolific public speaker and science popularizer. In 2007, Carroll was named NSF Distinguished Lecturer by the National Science Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thanu Padmanabhan</span> Indian physicist and cosmologist (1957–2021)

Thanu Padmanabhan was an Indian theoretical physicist and cosmologist whose research spanned a wide variety of topics in gravitation, structure formation in the universe and quantum gravity. He published nearly 300 papers and reviews in international journals and ten books in these areas. He made several contributions related to the analysis and modelling of dark energy in the universe and the interpretation of gravity as an emergent phenomenon. He was a Distinguished Professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) at Pune, India.

Gregory Gabadadze is a Georgian theoretical physicist specializing in the field of gravity. He holds the position of Professor of Physics at New York University, where he also serves as the Dean for Science. In his previous roles at NYU, Gabadadze was the Chair of the Department of Physics and the Director of the Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics.

Anne-Christine Davis is a British theoretical physicist at the University of Cambridge. She was the first woman to be appointed a professor in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University. Her research mainly concerns cosmology, astrophysics and string theory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ana Maria Rey</span> Colombian physicist (born c. 1976)

Ana Maria Rey is a Colombian theoretical physicist, professor at University of Colorado at Boulder, a JILA fellow, a fellow at National Institute of Standards and Technology and a fellow of the American Physical Society. Rey was the first Hispanic woman to win the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in 2019. In 2023, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. She is currently the chair of DAMOP, the American Physical Society's division in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (AMO).

Bimetric gravity or bigravity refers to two different classes of theories. The first class of theories relies on modified mathematical theories of gravity in which two metric tensors are used instead of one. The second metric may be introduced at high energies, with the implication that the speed of light could be energy-dependent, enabling models with a variable speed of light.

Rachel Bean is a cosmologist, theoretical astrophysicist, professor of astronomy, and senior associate dean for math and science at the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University.

Rachel A. Rosen is a physicist and associate professor of Theoretical Physics at Carnegie Mellon University. Her research involves quantum field theory, cosmology, astrophysics and massive gravity. In particular, she has investigated the problem of the inconsistencies known as "ghosts," and how to formulate models of massive gravity that avoid them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chanda Prescod-Weinstein</span> American cosmologist (born c. 1982)

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is an American theoretical cosmologist and particle physicist at the University of New Hampshire. She is also an advocate of increasing diversity in science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marika Taylor</span> Professor of Theoretical Physics

Marika Maxine Taylor is a Professor of Theoretical Physics, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Head of College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Birmingham. She started this role in September 2023 after being Head of School for Mathematics at the University of Southampton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valery Rubakov</span> Russian physicist (1955–2022)

Valery Anatolyevich Rubakov was a Russian theoretical physicist. His scientific interests included quantum field theory, elementary particle physics, and cosmology.

Ana Achúcarro Jiménez is a Spanish researcher, academic, and professor of particle astrophysics and quantum field theory at the University of Leiden in Leiden, Netherlands. Her research considers the early universe, supergravity, black holes and solitons.

Ruth Durrer is a professor of Cosmology at the University of Geneva. She works on the cosmic microwave background, brane cosmology and massive gravity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anastasia Volovich</span> Physicist

Anastasia Volovich is a professor of physics at Brown University. She works on theoretical physics: quantum field theory, general relativity, string theory and related areas in mathematics.

References

  1. 1 2 "Alumni Award Recipients". www.epflalumni.ch. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Claudia de Rham | Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists". blavatnikawards.org. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  3. ↑ Claudia, De Rham (2005). Braneworld cosmology beyond the low-energy limit.
  4. 1 2 Devlin, Hannah (25 January 2020). "Has physicist's gravity theory solved 'impossible' dark energy riddle?". The Guardian . Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "McGill Physics: CHEP seminars". www.physics.mcgill.ca. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  6. ↑ "CHEP Seminars 2007–2008". www.physics.mcgill.ca. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  7. ↑ "Claudia de Rham | Perimeter Institute". www.perimeterinstitute.ca. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "Claudia de Rham". www.perimeterinstitute.ca. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  9. ↑ "Claudia de Rham | Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics – University of Geneva". cosmology.unige.ch. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  10. ↑ "Claudia de Rham". www.phys.cwru.edu. Archived from the original on 16 April 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  11. ↑ "TED | Institute for the Science of Origins". origins.case.edu. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  12. ↑ "Expanding horizons: throwing new light on dark energy". Imperial College London. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  13. 1 2 "Claudia de Rham". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  14. 1 2 "Claudia de Rham | TEDxCLE". www.tedxcle.com. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  15. 1 2 de Rham, Claudia; Gabadadze, Gregory; Tolley, Andrew J. (2011). "Resummation of Massive Gravity". Physical Review Letters. 106 (23): 231101. arXiv: 1011.1232 . Bibcode:2011PhRvL.106w1101D. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.106.231101. PMID   21770493. S2CID   3564069.
  16. ↑ Rham, Claudia de (1 December 2014). "Massive Gravity". Living Reviews in Relativity. 17 (1): 7. arXiv: 1401.4173 . Bibcode:2014LRR....17....7D. doi: 10.12942/lrr-2014-7 . ISSN   2367-3613. PMC   5256007 . PMID   28179850.
  17. ↑ "Claudia De Rham – Festival Histoire et Cité – archive 2017". Festival Histoire et Cité – archive 2017 (in French). Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  18. ↑ "UK Cosmo at Portsmouth – April 5th 2017". www.icg.port.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  19. ↑ "Tube: "Graviton Mass Bounds" by Claudia de Rham (Imperial College London) « CP³-Origins". CP³-Origins. Archived from the original on 13 September 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  20. ↑ "IFT Christmas Workshop – csic.es". www.csic.es (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  21. ↑ "Professor Claudia de Rham". Imperial College London. 1 April 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  22. ↑ Rham, Claudia de; Tolley, Andrew J. (22 November 2023). Encyclopedia of Cosmology, the – Set 2: Frontiers in Cosmology (in 3 Volumes). Hackensack: World Scientific Publishing Company. ISBN   978-981-12-8969-9.
  23. 1 2 "Home – Claudia de Rham". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  24. ↑ "New Initiative Ponders Origins of the Universe | Simons Foundation". Simons Foundation. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  25. ↑ Scheuber, Andrew. "Multi-million EU funding boost for Imperial researchers". Imperial College London. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  26. ↑ "Awards, etc. – Cambridge University Reporter 6505". www.admin.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  27. ↑ "Theoretical physicist gets awarded in the 2018 Blavatnik Awards". Science Examiner. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  28. ↑ Dunning, Hayley. "Imperial physicist wins first-of-its-kind science prize". Archived from the original on 16 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  29. ↑ "Three innovative scientists receive US$100,000 (£75,000) each from prestigious Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists". Blavatnik Awards Young Scientists. New York Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  30. ↑ "New members". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.