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Vittoria Berta
Affiliated Scientist
Starting from fall 2025, I will become part of the Simons Collaboration with a joint position as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Toronto and as a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University's Theoretical High Energy Astrophysics group.
My research focuses on unraveling the hidden links between cosmic-scale plasma flows and the microphysics of magnetic dissipation and particle acceleration as a key to understanding the multiwavelength signals observed from some of the Universe’s most energetic compact sources—e.g., neutron stars and black holes.
My research involves pioneering work in modeling dissipative plasma physics processes—such as magnetic reconnection—in relativistic plasmas by developing cutting-edge numerical algorithms suitable for the most modern and powerful exascale computational infrastructures. Recently, my interest has focused on applying the methods I developed to model relativistic magnetic reconnection dynamics in three-dimensional frameworks with unprecedented accuracy.
I am honored to be part of the Simons Collaboration and contribute to understanding the extreme physics of the most exotic objects in our Universe.