My research is about gravity, cosmology, phase transitions and the nature of time. I am interested in how a physical clock can emerge in gravitational theories, and in the connections between topology, quantum cosmology and holography.
2026
Preprint · October 2026
We develop effective field theories for strong phase transitions, where the usual high-temperature expansion breaks down. This gives us a controlled way to study their thermodynamics. In a two-scalar model, we test how higher-order corrections improve the latent-heat calculation, and extend the approach to models with fermions and gauge fields.
2026
Journal of High Energy Physics · 08 (2026), 193
How is a clock in a gravitational theory described at its boundary? We study this in Jackiw–Teitelboim gravity, where spacetime volume provides a physical notion of time. We connect this bulk clock to a boundary clock and to the low-energy dynamics of the complex SYK model.
2025
Physical Review D · 111 (2025), 124050
We extend Jackiw–Teitelboim gravity to include unimodular time, a physical clock conjugate to the cosmological constant. This lets us describe quantum cosmology through a Schrödinger-like evolution. We study how the probability of the universe’s size changes with this time, including expanding and contracting branches.
2024
Physics Letters B · 855 (2024), 138810 · Preprint 2023
This work began during my master’s. We relate physical time to the topology of magnetic-field vortices. In a topological formulation of unimodular gravity, time is tied to helicity and the linking of vortex lines. The flow of time can then be understood as the weaving of further links.
I have kept a copy of my earlier Research page, with my undergraduate projects and writing about physics and philosophy. Some of it is old, but I wanted to keep it here.
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