Dr. Alessia Franchini
Researcher RTDA
Theoretical Astrophysics
Email: alessia.franchini@unimi.it
Useful links: List of publications Personal webpage
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8400-0969
Research interests: accretion discs dynamics, massive black hole binaries, gravitational waves, transient systems: tidal disruption events, X-ray binaries, quasi periodic eruptions.
Hi!
I just joined the Astrophysics Group at the Universita’ degli Studi di Milano as a fixed-term researcher.
I obtained my PhD in Milan at the end of 2017. After that I spent 2 years as a Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (NV, USA) and then a little over 3 years as a Postdoctoral fellow at the Universita’ degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca. I then moved to the University of Zurich (Switzerland) where I was a Tomalla fellow for a little over 1 year.
My journey in theoretical astrophysics started with the modelling of tidal disruption events light curves and X-ray binaries quasi periodic oscillations (QPOs) and then moved to hydrodynamical simulations of binary-disc interactions in a variety of systems: Be/X-ray binaries, massive black hole binaries and finally extreme mass ratio inspirals (EMRIs) through the modelling of quasi periodic eruptions (QPEs). My expertises include numerical simulations, analytical calculation and observations strategies. My main goal is always to explain existing observations and to develop theoretical models that then allow to make predictions for future observations.
I am currently the PI of the project RTBinary (Radiative Transfer simulation for synthetic emission signatures of massive black hole Binaries), funded by PNRR – Young Researchers Seal of Excellence. My project aims at finding unique signatures of massive black hole binaries embedded in gaseous environment through radiative transfer hydrodynamics simulations. The main goal being to provide reliable theoretical predictions that allow to confirm (or discard) existing candidates.