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Carlo Rovelli

Theoretical Physicist, Centre de Physique Theorique de Luminy; Distinguished Visiting Research Chair, Perimeter Institute

Carlo Rovelli is an Italian theoretical physicist at Centre de Physique Theorique de Luminy.

His work is mainly in the field of quantum gravity, where he is among the founders of the loop quantum gravity theory. He has also worked in the history and philosophy of science. He collaborates regularly with several Italian newspapers, in particular the cultural supplements of Il Sole 24 Ore and La Repubblica.

Rovelli was born in Verona, Italy, in 1956. He attended the Liceo Classico Scipione Maffei in Verona. In the 1970s, he participated in the student political movements in Italian universities. He was involved with the free political radio stations Radio Alice in Bologna and Radio Anguana in Verona, which he helped found. In conjunction with his political activity, he was charged, but later released, for crimes of opinion related to the book Fatti Nostri, which he co-authored with Enrico Palandri, Maurizio Torrealta, and Claudio Piersanti.

In 1981, Rovelli graduated with a BS/MS in Physics from the University of Bologna, and in 1986 he obtained his PhD at the University of Padova, Italy. Rovelli refused military service, which was compulsory in Italy at the time, and was therefore briefly detained in 1987. He held postdoctoral positions at the University of Rome, Trieste, and at Yale University. Rovelli was on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh from 1990 to 2000. He is currently at the Aix-Marseille University, in the Centre de Physique Théorique, in Marseille, France. He has also long held the post of Affiliated Professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the University of Pittsburgh. He is the first president of the Samy Maroun Center founded in 2014.



Topic Series



Books

White Holes

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The Order of Time

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Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

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Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity

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