Research
My research focuses on understanding the behaviour of the strongly interacting matter under extreme conditions. The strong interaction is described by Quantum Chromodynamics, the theory of the colour charged particles: quarks and gluons. A defining characteristic of this theory is that isolated quarks and gluons are not observed in nature under usual conditions: in this case, only composite states of neutral colour charge are observed. Such states are called hadrons.
However, under extreme conditions of temperature and/or density, the theory undergoes a transition for a deconfined phase, in which matter behaves as a fluid composed by freely propagating quarks and gluons. This phase is known as the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). It describes the state of matter during the early universe (before 10 microseconds) and is speculated to also describe the core of ultra-dense astrophysical objects, as the neutron stars. It can also be formed, for a short time interval, in relativistic heavy-ion collision experiments.
During my career, I have been involved in projects that seek to understand the behaviour of the quark-gluon plasma and unravel the full picture of the QCD phase diagram.
