Amedeo Balbi
Associate Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics
I am associate professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Physics Department of the University of Rome "Tor Vergata" since 2017.
I graduated in Physics at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata" in 1995, with a thesis on the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background radiation.
In 2000 I obtained my PhD in Astronomy from the University of Rome "La Sapienza", with a thesis on the analysis of the data of the MAXIMA balloon experiment.
Between 1998 and 2000 I was a visiting student at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in the group of prof. George F. Smoot (Nobel Prize in Physics 2006). At that time, I collaborated with the MAXIMA balloon experiment, one of the first to produce high-resolution maps of the cosmic microwave background radiation. MAXIMA results produced precision measurements of cosmological parameters, and one of the first evidences that the universe has large-scale Euclidean geometry.
From 1996 to 2012 I was a member of the Planck collaboration, an ESA satellite for the study of cosmic background radiation.
Currently, my main research interest is astrobiology, in particular the study of the astrophysical factors that contribute to the habitability of planetary environments and the development of remote investigation techniques for biological markers. Previously, my research has covered a wide range of topics in cosmology and theoretical astrophysics, from the study of the primordial universe to the problem of dark matter and dark energy.
I am the author of over 100 publications in peer-reviewed international journals, as well as dozens of contributions to volumes and conference proceedings, with a total of over 17,000 citations (h-index 53). I have been co-I or PI of numerous national and international research projects.
In parallel with teaching and research, for many years I have been active as a science popularizer, regularly participating in radio and television programs, and writing for the main national newspapers (including Repubblica, la Stampa and il Post). I gave hundreds of public conferences for several prestigious organizations and institutions, including the Accademia dei Lincei, the Genoa Science Festival, the Rome Science Festival, the Wired Next Fest, the Turin Book Fair and TEDxRoma. Since 2014 I have been writing an astrophysics column in Le Scienze (Italian edition of Scientific American). I have written ten popular science books.
I am a member of the International Astronomical Union, the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi), the IAA SETI Permanent Committee and the scientific council of the Italian Society of Astrobiology. I am also a member of the scientific committee of the BergamoScienza festival, of the Tuscolana Association of Astronomy, and of the Cosmos prize.
PRIZES
2023 - Premio Galileo for the book "Su un altro pianeta"
2021 - Asimov Prize for the book "L'ultimo orizzonte"
2018 - "Tusculanae Scientiae" Award
2018 - "Royal Astronomical Society Group Achievement Award" (Planck Team)
2015 - "National Award for Scientific Dissemination" for the book "Cercatori di meraviglia"
2012 - "Città delle rose" award for the book "Il buio oltre le stelle"
2010 Third prize, Foundational Questions Institute Essay Contest "What is ultimately possible in physics?"
Most of my scientific papers are available on ArXiv and/or ADS.
For a full list see also:
Google Scholar citations
Scopus Author ID: 56227420000
ResearcherID: U-6167-2017
- Quantifying the information impact of future searches for exoplanetary biosignatures – Balbi, A. and Grimaldi, C. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, p. 202007560 (2020)
- The Habitability of the Galactic Bulge – Balbi, A., Hami, M., & Kovačević, A. B., Life, 10(8), 132 (2020)
- Comparative analysis of the influence of Sgr A* and nearby active galactic nuclei on the mass loss of known exoplanets – Agata M. Wisłocka, Andjelka B. Kovačević, Amedeo Balbi, Astronomy & Astrophysics (2019)
- The habitability of the Milky Way during the active phase of its central supermassive black hole – Balbi, A., Tombesi, F., NatSR, 7, 16626 (2017)
- Real-time cosmology – Quercellini, C., Amendola, L., Balbi, A., Cabella, P., Quartin, M. Physics Reports, Volume 521, Issue 3, p. 95-134 (2012)
- Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect from the cross correlation of WMAP 3year and the NRAO VLA sky survey data: New results and constraints on dark energy – Pietrobon, D., Balbi, A., and Marinucci, D. PhRvD 74, 043524 (2006)
- ΛαDM: Observational constraints on unified dark matter with constant speed of sound – Balbi, A., Bruni, M., and Quercellini, C. PhRvD 76, 103519 (2007)
- Probing Dark Energy with the Cosmic Microwave Background: Projected Constraints from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe and Planck – Balbi, A., Baccigalupi, C., Perrotta, F., Matarrese, S., and Vittorio, N.ApJ 588, L5 (2003)
- Implications for Quintessence Models from MAXIMA-1 and BOOMERANG-98 – Balbi, A., Baccigalupi, C., Matarrese, S., Perrotta, F., and Vittorio, N. ApJ 547, L89 (2001)
- Cosmology from Planck – Balbi, A. NewAR 51, 281 (2007)
- CMB power spectrum estimation for the Planck Surveyor – Balbi, A., de Gasperis, G., Natoli, P., and Vittorio, N. A&A395, 417 (2002)
- Constraints on Cosmological Parameters from MAXIMA-1 – Balbi, A., and 18 colleagues ApJ 545, L1 (2000)
- MAXIMA-1: A Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy on Angular Scales of 10′-5° – Hanany, S., and 21 colleagues ApJ 545, L5 (2000)
- Cosmology from MAXIMA-1, BOOMERANG, and COBE DMR Cosmic Microwave Background Observations – Jaffe, A. H., and 41 colleagues PhRvL 86, 3475 (2001)
Teaching in the Physics Department
| ID | Course Name | Semester | Length | CFU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astrobiology and Habitability | First | 14 Weeks | 6 |
