Mersini-Houghton, Laura
Professor
Contact
Office: 264 PhillipsEmail: mersini@physics.unc.edu
Phone:
Web page: https://physicstheory.web.unc.edu/
Background
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- I am a Professor of Theoretical Physics and Cosmology at UNC-Chapel Hill
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- Scientific Trajectory:
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Professor: UNC-Chapel Hill, NC
- Associate Professor: UNC-Chapel Hill, NC, 2009
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Assistant Professor: UNC-Chapel Hill, NC, 2004-2008
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Visiting Professor: PI -Waterloo, ON, 2003
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Postdoc: University of Syracuse, NY, 2002-2003
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Postdoc: Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, 2000-2002
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Ph.D: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, 2000 *
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M.Sc.: University of Maryland-College Park, MD, 1997.
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Fulbright Scholar: University of Maryland-College Park, MD, 1994
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- You can find a complete list of publications in the Publication tab. Here are some Notable Publications
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- Books:
- Arrows of Time: A Debate in Cosmology
- Cosmic Update: Dark Puzzles, Arrow of Time, Future History (Multiversal Journeys)
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Media Coverage, Interviews, Public Talks here:
- I am a member of the theory group of Gravity, Cosmology, HEP (GCHEP) and of the Institute of Field Physics. You can read about the history and the tradition of excellence of the group and of the institute, supported by the Bahnson Fund, in Bryce DeWitt’s Memoirs.
I am honoured to be named a UWM Distinguished Alumni. *
Research
- My research focuses on three main themes: origins of the universe and the fundamental nature of space and time; dark energy; quantum physics of the black holes.
- I proposed a theory of the origins of the universe from a quantum landscape multiverse, based on fundamental physics, http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0410213, http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0504026 , arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0511102 and http://arxiv.org/abs/arXiv:0809.3623 . With collaborators we derived a series of predictions, five of which were successfully tested by PLANCK and LHC in: Avatars I and Avatars II .
- More recently I showed that the back-reaction of Hawking radiation on a gravitationally collapsing star prevents the formation of a singularity.
Backreaction of Hawking Radiation on a Gravitationally Collapsing Star .
Publications
The list of publications can be found here: