Rovelli Carlo
Professor
Carlo Rovelli
Carlo Rovelli is an Italian theoretical physicist and philosopher of science. He is one of the founders of loop quantum gravity. In 1995, together with Lee Smolin, he established an explicit basis for the states of quantum gravity based on Roger Penrose’s spin networks, and demonstrated that the theory predicts the quantization of area and volume. This result suggests the existence of a discrete structure of space at extremely small scales.
In 1994, he proposed a relational interpretation of quantum mechanics, founded on the idea that all quantum states are observer-dependent.
In collaboration with Alain Connes, he formulated a covariant model of quantum field theory based on the thermal time hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, time does not exist at the fundamental level but emerges only within a thermodynamic or statistical context. Furthermore, the flow of time would be an illusion arising from incomplete information.
He is the author of several widely acclaimed popular science books, including Seven Brief Lessons on Physics — an international bestseller translated into 41 languages and with more than one million copies sold. In The Order of Time, he presents his discoveries and reflections on the nature of time, a subject that has fascinated him since his earliest studies in physics.
In the philosophy of science, he has examined in particular the role of Anaximander in the birth of scientific thought, the physics of Aristotle, and the intricate relationship between philosophy and science.
