PhD student in Theoretical Physics at the Rudolf Peierls Centre, University of Oxford
Clarendon Scholar
I am supervised by Professor Michael Barnes and work on plasma turbulence in stellarators. The idea of my project is to understand how turbulence carries heat out of a magnetically confined plasma, and how this depends on the three-dimensional shape of the magnetic field.
2002 — 2021
I was born in Rome in 2002. My interest in mathematics and physics began in my final year of middle school. From then on, I enjoyed taking part in Olympiads—even when the results were mixed.
I attended Liceo Scientifico Augusto Righi, where I met my first community of future mathematicians and physicists. Many of them are still close friends.
2021 — 2026
I moved to Pisa for university, studying physics at the University of Pisa and the Scuola Normale Superiore. There, I could finally devote myself full-time to the subjects I enjoyed most.
2025 — today
I first moved to Oxford for six months in October 2025. I worked with Alex Schekochihin and Plamen Ivanov on my master’s thesis, studying coherent structures in plasma turbulence (the PDF is in the University of Pisa archive , under embargo until 2029).
Among the options available to me for the PhD, I chose to stay in Oxford. Since October 2026, I have been working with Michael Barnes, Daniel Kennedy and Richard Nies on plasma turbulence in stellarators. My PhD is supported by a Clarendon Scholarship and by the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald.
2026 — present
Merton College, Oxford
Mark Statistical Mechanics problem sheets for eight second-year students and act as their mentor, offering support for their studies.
2023, 2024
Scuola Normale Superiore
Designed and delivered two advanced problem-solving lectures for the camp’s 24 selected high-school students.
2022, 2023
Liceo A. Righi, Rome
Taught two courses of weekly theory and problem-solving sessions to a few students, some of whom reached the national finals.
2022 — 2023
Individual tutoring
Helped students prepare for university entrance examinations in scientific subjects.
2023 — 2026
Scuola Normale Superiore
Elected for two terms; worked on the Board’s routine business and, among much else, on revising the regulations of the Students’ Assembly and of college life.
2020 — 2022
Liceo A. Righi, Rome
Founded and led Oltre, an association of about twenty members that organized events and handled student representation for the whole school; in the same spirit, represented students on the School Council.
A plasma is a gas of electrons and ions. In a magnetic field, these particles gyrate around field lines and can move along them. In the core of a stellarator, the field lines wind around nested magnetic surfaces. This geometry forms the basis of magnetic confinement.
External coils produce this three-dimensional field. In Wendelstein 7-X, 50 non-planar and 20 planar coils allow its geometry to be controlled. The vacuum vessel encloses the plasma and separates it from the surrounding atmosphere; the cutaway shows how its shape follows that of the confined volume.
The cross-section shows the nested magnetic surfaces. The field restricts transport across these surfaces, but does not eliminate it. Collisions and turbulence can carry particles and energy outwards. Understanding these losses is essential to assessing how effectively the plasma retains heat.
An interactive map of plasma physics, with illustrative stellar levels.
Open the galaxyCoherent Structures in Sheared Ion-Temperature-Gradient Plasma Turbulence
Research with Alex Schekochihin and Plamen Ivanov for my MSc at the University of Pisa.
PDF under embargo until 21 September 2029. The record and the abstract are public; if you would like to read the thesis sooner, write to me.
University of Pisa ETD recordFor questions about my research, teaching or collaborations.