Online Lecture: 'Apples, Black Holes, and Holograms: A Brief History of Gravity'
Gravity shapes our everyday experiences, from apples falling from trees and the ebb and flow of tides to the motion of planets and galaxies. It also governs the universe’s most extreme phenomena, such as the formation of black holes and the emission of gravitational waves.

In this month’s Balliol Online Lecture, Dr Romain Ruzziconi will trace the evolution of our understanding of gravity, from the major breakthroughs of Galileo, Newton, and Einstein to the modern concept of holography. Unravelling the mysteries of gravity helps us confront profound questions about the cosmos: What is the fate of an observer falling into a black hole? What are the origins of the universe itself?

Dr Romain Ruzziconi is the Walker Early Career Fellow in Mathematical Physics at Balliol College and a Titchmarsh Research Fellow at the Oxford Mathematical Institute, his core subject area is theoretical high-energy physics.

His research focuses on theoretical aspects of classical and quantum gravity, employing the methods of holography, asymptotic symmetries, and scattering amplitudes. Currently, his work is concentrated on flat space holography and exploring the interplay between celestial amplitudes and Carrollian physics.

He is leaving his Balliol fellowship a year early, in October 2025, to take up a Global Marie Curie Fellowship at Harvard and the École Polytechnique Paris.
Date: 20 May 2025, 17:00
Venue: Venue to be announced
Speaker: Dr Romain Ruzziconi (Balliol College)
Organiser contact email address: development.office@balliol.ox.ac.uk
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/8217338206985/WN_UfpbFFeUTbKRw_Vnvf7Ctg
Booking email: development.office@balliol.ox.ac.uk
Audience: Public
Editor: David Barker