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Personal

Title

Dr.

Full Name

Silke Weinfurtner

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Research

Affiliation

SISSA - International School for Advanced Studies

Position

Postdoc

Curriculum Vitae

09/2010--08/2012
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the SISSA-International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste, (Italy);
Ingoing phase of Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowships (IOF);
Collaboration with Prof. S. Liberati.

09/2007--08/2010
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, (Canada);
From 09/2008-08/2010 outgoing phase of Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowships (IOF);
Collaboration with Prof. W. G. Unruh.

12/2003--06/2007
PhD student at Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, (New Zealand);
PhD thesis title: Emergent spacetimes;
Supervisor: Prof. M. Visser.

05/2002--05/2003
Diplom thesis at the Max-Plank-Quantumoptics, Garching, Germany;
Diploma thesis title: Simulation von Gravitationsobjekten im Bose-Einstein-Kondensat;
Supervisor: Prof. J. I. Cirac;

1997--2002
Undergraduate and graduate studies in Theoretical Physics at the Technical University of Munich, (Germany);
Advanced studies in general relativity, quantum mechanics and theory of condensed matter physics.

1996--1997
Undergraduate studies in Physikalische Technik (Applied Physics) at the University of Applied Sciences, Munich, (Germany).

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Awards, Prizes, Scholarships, and other Professional Recognition

01/2011
The article ``Measurement of stimulated Hawking emission in an analogue system'' has been highlighted with a Synopsis on the American Physical Society Physics website.

11/2010
FQXi (Foundational Questions Institute) membership.

10/2009
The article ``Cosmological particle production in emergent rainbow spacetimes'' has been selected by the Editorial Board of Classical and Quantum Gravity (CQG) as part of the journal's Highlights of 2008 and 2009.

09/2008-09/2011
Marie Curie Actions -- International Outgoing Fellowships (IOF); Project title: EMERGENT-2007-SW--Emergent Spacetimes; Project number: 220562. Outgoing host (2 years): University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, and incoming host (1 year): SISSA-International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste, Italy.

2006
Victoria University PhD completion scholarship.

2005
New Zealand Postgraduate Study Abroad Award.

10/2004 -10/2005
Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD)
Gegenstipendium zur wissenschaftlichen Aus- und Fortbildung im Ausland (partial stipend for overseas studies).

09/2004
Hartle Prize of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation,
given for the best student presentations at the 17th International Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation, Dublin, (Ireland).

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Research Summary

A major problem of quantum field theory in curved spacetime, and quantum gravity more generally, is the lack of sufficient observational and experimental guidance. To address this issue I am perusing a multidisciplinary approach to quantum gravity, using its possible connection to easy-to-access physical systems whose description is well-established --- in theory and experiment --- within other fields, such as quantum information, condensed matter physics, and hydrodynamics. This allows me to address longstanding questions of semi-classical and full quantum gravity from a new perspective. In addition, I am interested to engage the tools and concepts developed for the project's objectives to further deepen the understanding of the non-gravitational systems evolved. In contrast to general customs, my work is of theoretical and experimental nature, ranging from a quantum information approach to quantum gravity to foundational studies on wave-current interactions.

I am convinced that multidisciplinary approaches will gain even more interest and wider attention in the near future. The synthesis of ideas from different branches of physics, such as discussed above, are useful when conventional approaches seem to fail.

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Research Website

http://www.sissa.it/main/?s=weinfurtner&x=0&y=0

Research Group Website

http://www.sissa.it/main/?p=SECTOR_AP

History

Member for

2 years 19 weeks