Fitxa persona

My research activity so far has focused on the study of new physics beyond the limits of General Relativity in classical and quantum scenarios and in regimes where new physics must play an important role. This broad field includes quantum phenomena in cosmology and black holes, as well as the study of alternative theories of gravitation and their applications to cosmology and astrophysics. In my thesis I contributed to the understanding of quantum radiation problems in curved spaces (cosmology, black holes, and wormholes) by developing a formalism based on correlation functions that exploits the underlying symmetries of the system and offers an alternative approach to the traditional formulation in terms of Bogolubov coefficients. This formalism has been especially useful in the study of the trans-Planckian problem in the context of black holes, and to study physical properties of matter fields and gravitational waves in inflationary and wormhole scenarios.

I am author of numerous works on alternative theories of gravity with applications to the problem of the accelerating universe, quantum gravity phenomenology, the weak field limit in various theories of gravity, aspects of stellar structure and compact objects, and other astrophysical issues typically associated with dark matter and dark energy. More recently I have explored high-energy corrections to the internal structure of black holes, the meaning and implications of singularities, mechanisms to avoid them, analytical methods to facilitate the analysis of modified theories of gravity, quasinormal modes and shadows of compact objects, and have shown that the process of quantum particle creation also occurs in wormhole space-times. I have written several review articles, highlighting one (as single author) in IJMPD in 2011 (750+ citations), another in Universe in 2015, and two in Physics Reports (one in 2018 and another in 2020), dealing with topics that range from modified gravity to stellar structure. I have teaching experience in undergraduate courses (Physics I, Quantum Physics, Quantum Field Theory, Differential Equations, Differential Geometry, General Relativity, Cosmology) and have imparted numerous advanced courses for graduate students in Spanish, European, and American universities. I have supervised 20+ final degree projects, 20+ MSc, 5 PhDs, and 7 postdocs.

I am an Associate Editor with the journal General Relativity and Gravitation and also with Universe. I have been principal investigator of 4 national projects (FIS2014, FIS2017, PID2020, PID2023), of the Topical Network of Relativity and Gravitation, of 4 international projects of CSIC (2 i-LINK and 2 i-COOP),  in 2017 I got a Project of Excellence for Young Researchers from the government of Valencia (GVA), and in 2020 a PROMETEO excellence project (GVA). In 2014 I was named “Outstanding Referee" by the American Physical Society. I am a member of the Management Committee and the Core Group of the COST Action CA21136 (CosmoVerse) and was also in CA15117 (CANTATA) until its completion in 10/2020. As Science Communication Manager of CANTATA, I produced two documentaries: G-Ambassadors and Challenging Einstein's Legacy. We also published a review (in book format) with 450+ citations. I am Vice-president of the Spanish Society of Gravitation and Relativity, and a member of SIGRAV, ISGRG, and APS (life memberships). I am Head of my Department since 04/2024 and was Coordinator of the PhD Program of the Faculty of Physics from 12/2021 to 06/2024.

In numbers: 167 published papers, 10.000+ citations, h-index=51. Ranked 46.606 for whole career and 18.163 for the year 2024 in the 100k science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators (Published:19 Sep 2024, DOI:10.17632/btchxktzyw.8). I have 3 research sexenios and 2 teaching quinquenios.