DIAS event with Stefano Liberati: Black Holes, Cosmic Windows onto the Spacetime Fabric - A Journey from Macro to Micro

Black holes, once thought to be mere mathematical curiosities, are now recognized as central actors in the cosmos; from stellar remnants to the supermassive engines powering galaxies. At the same time, they serve as unique windows into the fundamental nature of reality. Their horizons encode thermodynamic laws, their radiation reveals the interplay of gravity and quantum physics, and their singularities seem to put an end to our very notion of spacetime.

In this colloquium, we shall embark on a journey across space — from supermassive black holes to their microscopic and quantum aspects — and across time, from the early “dark star” speculations of the 18th century to modern ideas of black hole thermodynamics, analogue gravity, and the emergent spacetime paradigm. In doing so, we shall see how they provide crucial insights into the fabric of spacetime itself. Far from marking the limits of knowledge, black holes may instead be keys to pushing it beyond its present boundaries.

About Stefano Liberati
Stefano Liberati is Full Professor of Astroparticle and Gravitational Physics at SISSA in Trieste and Director of the Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe (IFPU). He is also President of the Italian Society for General Relativity and Gravitational Physics (SIGRAV) and national coordinator of the INFN initiative QUAGRAP on quantum gravity phenomenology. After a PhD in Astrophysics at SISSA under Dennis Sciama and a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Maryland, he has pursued research at the interface of gravitation, astrophysics, and particle physics, with key contributions to quantum gravity phenomenology, analogue gravity, and black hole physics. Author of more than 240 scientific publications, he serves as editor for JCAP, Universe, and Proceedings of the Royal Society A.

Venue
DIAS Auditorium
Krogene V, SDU Odense

This event is open for all