Fiorenzo Bastianelli

The main research topics deal with quantum field theory and string theory. Quantum field theory gives the main tools needed to describe the fundamental interactions, summarized in the standard model of elementary particles. The only known force which does not have a satisfactory description with quantum fields is the force of gravity. A model which offers possible solution to the quantum gravity problem is given by string theory, a theory which describes the elementary quanta of the fields as one-dimensional objects, the strings, rather than pointlike particles. In this context much research has been devoted to the development of the worldline formalism, a tool to describe quantum field theory in curved spaces using methods similar to those employed in string theory. Also, new methods for describing higher spin fields (fields with spin bigger than two) have been developed with the aim of searching for alternative theories of unifications and study new phases of string theory.