Luca Visinelli

Luca Visinelli

Assistant Professor of Theoretical Physics (RTT)

University of Salerno and INFN (Italy)

I am a theoretical physicist at the University of Salerno and INFN working at the interface of particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. I use the Universe and precision experiments as laboratories for new fundamental physics, with particular emphasis on axions and ultralight particles, dark matter substructure, black holes, gravitational waves, and dark energy.

My research connects early Universe dynamics and nonlinear structure formation to concrete observables in haloscopes, radio telescopes, gravitational wave detectors, atomic sensors, and cosmological surveys. I coordinate the Theory Work Package of FLASH and co-developed ASTRA, a radio programme searching for axion conversion in neutron-star magnetospheres.

Before joining Salerno in 2025, I was a Tenure-track Associate Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and a Fellow at the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie FELLINI Fellow at INFN Frascati, a GRAPPA Fellow at the University of Amsterdam, and a postdoctoral researcher at NORDITA in Stockholm.

My work has received the 2021 Buchalter Cosmology Prize (Third Prize) and an NSFC Research Fund for International Excellent Young Scientists for the project Astrophysical Axion Laboratories.

Interests

  • Axions and ultralight particles
  • Dark-matter substructure and compact objects
  • Gravitational waves and black holes
  • Cosmology and dark energy

Education

  • PhD in Physics, 2011

    The University of Utah

  • MSc in Physics, 2011

    The University of Utah

  • MSc in Physics, 2007

    University of Bologna, Italy

  • BSc in Physics, 2005

    University of Bologna, Italy

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