Graduate Student Numa Karolinski: Thermodynamics and scalar-tensor gravity

Numa Karolinski, a graduate student at Bishop’s University, is engaged in a research project under the supervision of Professor Valerio Faraoni of the Physics and Astronomy Department.

Numa’s research stems from a lifelong passion for theoretical physics, particularly astrophysics and cosmology. This fascination naturally drew him to the first-order thermodynamics of scalar-tensor gravity, which aims to explain gravitational phenomena. He now explores the potential of scalar-tensor gravity to be described as an imperfect fluid and by the Tolman-Ehrenfest criterion, which argues that temperature is not constant in space but varies depending on spacetime metric.

Employing analytical solutions and mathematical programming, Numa’s work contributes to understanding cosmological details by offering an alternative theory to gravity, something that has been sought after for decades. Discovering such a theory would be of immense value to physicists, given the tension between General Relativity and the Standard Model of Particle Physics.

Additionally, Numa hopes to address the mysteries of the accelerated expansion of space as well as inflation, via the link between scalar fields and cosmological phenomena.

Numa plans to become a physics professor and will thus pursue a physics Ph.D. in Canada after his time at Bishop’s. He hopes to be able to use his academic position to advocate for causes important to him as he progresses in the academic world.