The Mystical formula and the mystery of Khronos,
Minkowski Spacetime: A Hundred Years Later, Springer Series on
Fundamental Theories of Physics.
Research Interests:
Astroparticle Physics,
Classical and Quantum Cosmology, and String Theory.
Organizational Activities:
First Iberian Meeting on Gravity,
Évora, Portugal, September 1992.
III Encontro Nacional de Astronomia,
Instituto Superior Técnico, July 1993.
Lisbon
School on Superstrings, Instituto Superior
Técnico, December 16-18, 1998.
Cosmology
2000, Instituto Superior
Técnico, July 12 - 15, 2000.
Lisbon School on Superstrings II - Modern Trends in String Theory
, Instituto Superior
Técnico, July 13 - 17, 2001.
International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy,
DICE 2002, DICE 2004, DICE 2006
in the Advisory Board.
Modern Trends in String Theory II
, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto,
Oporto, Portugal, 21-26 June, 2004.
Constrained Dynamics and Quantum Gravity Meetings
in the Advisory Board.
First Mediterranean Conference on
Classical and Quantum Gravity
in the Advisory Committee.
Articles
for raising the awareness on science and
comments in magazines and newspapers:
Supercordas e a Unificação
das Interacções
Fundamentais da Natureza, with M.C. Bento in "Futuro"
portuguese publication, October 1988.
Unificação
das Interacções
Fundamentais da Natureza e o Universo Primitivo, with J.C. Mourão,
1990.
"Gravitons make a little dark matter go a long way",
New Scientist, 25 February 1995.
"Cosmic beachcombers",
Marcus Chown, New Scientist, 23 December 1995.
Explosões de Raios Gama in "O
Observatório" monthly publication of Observatório
Astronómico de Lisboa, April 1996.
Princípios Antrópicos e a Vida no Universo
in "O Observatório", October and December
1997.
O Big Bang in "O Observatório", February 1998.
"Espelhos de outros mundos ?"
Diário de Notícias, 22 February 1998.
25 anos da Sociedade Portuguesa de Física in
"Gazeta de Física", Vol. 22, Fasc. 4, 1999.
Urnas electrónicas e os princípios fundamentais de
inviolabilidade do voto e transparência for
the Senate Comission of the Brazilian Parlament, June 2001.
Prémio União Latina 2001, Diário de Notícias,
December 2001.
Antigravité : l'ESA s'interroge, Air & Cosmos, number 1846 - 7 juin 2002.
ESA's Gravity Control Study, New Scientist, 18 August 2002.
ESA steigt in Anti-Schwerkraft-Forschung ein, Bild der Wissenschaft,
August 2002.
Antigravity has feet of
clay , Philip Ball, Nature, 26 January 2005.
Os físicos passaram a ver o mundo através dos olhos de Albert Einstein , Página 36, Página 37
Jornal Público, 15 March 2005.
Einstein, o físico revolucionário , Interview to Jornal Avante, April 2005.
"Einstein e a Descrição Unificada da Natureza"
, Orfeu Bertolami e Jorge Páramos,
Gazeta de Física, Vol. 28-3, 2005.
"Perspectives in Fundamental Physics in Space",
ESA Today, September/October 2005.
Einstein entre Nós, O Primeiro de Janeiro,
14 October 2005.
"Albert Einstein: o triunfo do intelecto" , para a
Exposição Einstein entre Nós, Biblioteca Geral da Universidade de Coimbra, 14 October - 30 November, 2005.
O problema da informação na radiação dos
Buracos Negros, Jornal Público, 27 November 2005.
"The Dark Arts of Dark Energy",
Scientific American Digital, January 2006.
O problema da constante cosmológica, Revista
e.Ciência, 2 February 2006.
O Livro das Escolhas Cósmicas in the Público newspaper, 11
February 2006
O Livro das Escolhas Cósmicas in the Gazeta de Física
"Solving the Pioneer Anomaly",
Science Magazine, 16 June 2006.
Scienziati da tutto il mondo perla 3 edizione del DICE, Corriere Etrusco, Piombino,
9 September 2006.
Cosmology in Portugal: The First 20 Years, Los Alamos ArXives,
December 2006.
Pioneer: Mistério na missão, Correio da Manhã,
27 January 2007.
Cosmologia portuguesa no século XX, Portal do Astrónomo,
February 2007.
Is Newton's second law violated ? Nature, March 2007
Two-speed gravity, Zeeya Merali, New Scientist,
7 April 2007.
Is dark energy fattening the sun ?, Zeeya Merali, New Scientist,
2 June 2007.
Correntes gravitacionais: Viajar à boleia da força da gravidade, Correio da Manhã,
25 August 2007.
Astronomia em Portugal: uma actividade fora de foco,
Blog De Rerum Natura,
20 October 2007.
O Modelo do gás de Chaplygin generalizado in the Público
newspaper, Página
6, P2,
Página 7, P2,
31 October 2007.
Scientists find hole in the universe,
Marcus Chown, New Scientist, 26 November 2007.
A fórmula mística de Minkowski, Expresso.pt, 1 December 2008.
O Mistério e a viagem das sondas Pioneer, Diário de Notícias,
13 December 2008.
As novas descobertas portuguesas de 2008,
Diário de Notícias, 31 December 2008.
Desconhecemos 95 por cento da energia do universo! E agora?,
Ciência Hoje, 6 March 2009.
90 years after Eddington's confirmation of General Relativity (in Portuguese)
, May 2009.
Por que nos fascinam os astros?,
Sociedade Civil, Portuguese National Television Programme, RTP 2,
20 July 2009.
Procura-se: pessoa mais inteligente do mundo, entrada imediata, Expresso.pt, 14 October 2009.
Encontrada a pessoa mais inteligente do mundo, Expresso.pt, 26 October 2009.
Matéria Escura in 1 minuto de Astronomia,
Portuguese National Television Programme, RTP, November 2009.
Portugal despede-se do maior evento de divulgação científica de sempre, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 17 March 2010.
Ano Internacional da Astronomia - E Depois do Adeus, Expresso.pt, 8 April 2010.
O futuro está lá fora?, Correio Braziliense, 24 August 2010.
Constantes inconstantes criam
revolução na física?, Expresso.pt, 11 September
2010.
Pioneer Anomaly Solved By 1970s Computer Graphics Technique, Technology Review (published by MIT), 31 March 2011.
Gravity, working as usual, Julianne, Cosmic Variance, 31 March 2011.
The Pioneer Anomaly may not be anomalous, The Naked Scientists: Science Radio & Science Podcasts, 3 April 2011.
The "Pioneer Anomaly": Case Closed, Sky & Telescope, 4 April 2011.
Mundane explanation for bizarre Pioneer Anomaly, David, Shiga,
New Scientist, 6 April 2011.
Pioneer anomaly solved, Heather Catchpole,
COSMOS, The
Science of Everything, 6 April 2011.
Pioneer puzzle pinned on thermodynamics, Ron Cowen, Science News, 7 April 2011.
Pioneer anomaly, Australian Brodcasting Corporation, 8 April 2011.
Atraso nas viagens espaciais explicado por portugueses, Marta Reis, Jornal i, 9 April 2011.
Has the famous Pioneer anomaly been finally solved?, Sydney Observatory, 13 April 2011.
Welche geheimnisvolle Kraft lenkt Raumsonden ab?, Welt Online, 13 April 2011.
MYSTERIOUS PIONEER ANOMALY MAY FINALLY BE SOLVED, Discovery News, Jennifer Quellette, 14 April 2011.
Pioneer-sondernes underlige faerd forklaret (in Sweedish), Jens Ramskov, 16 April 2011.
Mistério das sondas Pioneer revelado por docente da FCUP, 14 April 2011.
Explanation Proposed for Weird Space Anomaly Seen By Pioneer Probes, Charles Choi, SPACE.com, 25 April 2011.
Thermal radiation may account for Pioneer anomaly, Physics Today, 25 April 2011.
Goodbye Pioneer Anomaly, Kate Becker, 365 Days of Astronomy,
25 April 2011.
New theory proposed to explain Pioneer probe gravitational anomaly, Bob Yirka, PHYSORG, 27 April 2011.
Scientists present another explanation of anomaly in trajectory of Pionieer, ChangsontheEarth, 27 April 2011.
Mystery Force May Be Due To
Mirrors, Stephen P. Maran, USNews Science, 4 May 2011.
Pioneer Anomaly Solution, Membrana (in Russian), 16 May 2011.
Where did Triton Come from?, Technology Review (published by MIT), 6 June 2011.
GPS Satellites Could Solve Flyby Anomaly, Technology Review (published by MIT), 19 September 2011.
Art, Literature and Science
Physics and Poetry Gazeta da Física, January 2003
The Chaplygin Gas Model by Laura Pesce
The Dark Universe (detail) by Laura Pesce
7leitores, a Blog of Books
A Margem do Poema
Courses at Engineering and
Physics Majors:
Astrophysics
Cosmology and High Energy Astrophysics (2011)
Mechanics and Waves (2006-2007)
Mechanics and Waves (2007-2008)
Mechanics and Waves (2008-2009)
Thermodynamics and Structure of Matter
General Relativity and Cosmology
Electromagnetism and Optics
Advanced Topics on General Relativity
and Cosmology
Recent Projects and Activities:
Energy Densities in the Universe - funded by FCT (Portuguese
Foundation for Science and Technology),
January 2001 - June 2004.
Post Doctoral Position - funded by FCT under
the project Energy Densities in the Universe.
Nonperturbative Aspects of Fields and Strings - funded by FCT,
CERN Project with members of the University of
Algarve, January 2003 - January 2004.
Gravity Control and Spacecraft Propulsion - funded by European
Space Agency, September 2001 - April 2002.
Full Report (ESA CR(P)4365)
National Strategy for Space 2003 - 2008, Conselho Consultivo para o
Espaço, Gabinete de
Relações Internacionais da Ciência
e do Ensino Superior do Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia
e Ensino Superior, Portugal.
Pioneer Anomaly, Interview to the 2010 Programme of the
Portuguese National Television, October 2004.
Gravity Control, Interview to the 2010 Programme of the
Portuguese National Television, April 2005.
Cosmic Concordance - funded by FCT (Portuguese
Foundation for Science and Technology),
June 2005 - June 2009.
A Mission to Test the Anomalous Acceleration of the Pioneer Spacecraft -
funded by FCT (Portuguese
Foundation for Science and Technology),
May 2006 - December 2009.
Towards a unified cosmological description -
funded by FCT (Portuguese
Foundation for Science and Technology),
October 2010 - October 2013.
Some Ideas about Research in Portugal and in General:
Entraves ao progresso
científico nos países
em vias de desenvolvimento , with E. Abdalla
in "O Estado de São Paulo", Brazil, June 1995.
Anteprojecto de Estatuto da Carreira Docente Universitária do
Ministério da Educação - April 2001.
Algumas Reflexões sobre o Anteprojecto do Ministério da
Educação - April 2001.
Portuguese Research-Universities: Why Not The Best ? by Michael Athans
Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Portugal, debate na
VII Semana da Física, Instituto Superior Técnico, 30 October
2003.
Quem Tem Medo do Mérito Absoluto na Universidade? , Jornal
Público, 3 April 2004.
Comentários sobre a recente proposta do Ministério da
Ciência e Ensino Superior para financiamento da investigação , April 2004.
What is fair to ask Society to fund ?,
International Symposium, Science, Knowledge and the Market ,
21-23 October 2004, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Portugal.
Algumas questões de fundo relativamente à actividade científica em Portugal, contribuição para o
Encontro de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação,
18 December 2004, ISCTE, Lisbon, Portugal.
PLATAFORMA CONTRA LA CORRUPCIÓN Y EL ACOSO EN LA UNIVERSIDAD
PÚBLICA
O perigoso impacto da crise na educação, May 2011.
Some Useful Links and Information:
SLAC SPIRES High Energy Physics Database
Los Alamos Archives
Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto
Departamento de
Física e Astronomia,
Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto
NotíciasUP
NotíciasUP about the author
Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear
Departamento de Física do
Instituto Superior Técnico
no Jornal Público (2005)
Federação Nacional dos Professores - Ensino Superior (FENPROF)
Sociedade Portuguesa de Astronomia
Sociedade Portuguesa de Física
Gazeta de Física Blog in Expresso Newspaper
Most cited gr-qc E-prints in 2003
Top 5 Papers on Dark Energy and Dark Matter (2002 - 2004)
Most cited gr-qc E-prints in 2005
Most cited gr-qc E-prints in 2006
Most cited gr-qc E-prints in 2007
Most cited gr-qc E-prints in 2008
ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Call for Themes, June 2004.
Prospects for Breakthrough Propulsion from Physics, NASA, May 2004.
Cosmology And Particle Physics, CAPP-98, CERN,
Theory Division, June 1998.
ATELIER INTERNATIONAL Physique et Astrophysique des Dimensions
Supplémentaires, Paris, June 2001.
COSMO-01 International Workshop on PARTICLE PHYSICS AND THE EARLY UNIVERSE,
Rovaniemi, Finland, August - September 2001.
ESF/PESC Exploratory Workshop on ``Quantum Information and Spacetime
Structure", Madrid, September 2001.
V Semana da Física, IST, October 2001.
NASA Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Program , May 2002.
XVIIIth IAP Colloquium, ON THE NATURE OF DARK ENERGY, Paris, July 2002.
Santa Fe Summer Cosmology Workshop, Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 2002.
Física 2002, September 2002, Évora.
XX Encontro Juvenil de Ciência, September 2002, Lisbon.
Gravitation and Experiment 2002, 6-10 October 2002, Pisa.
Encontro Nacional de Estudantes de Física 2003, March 2003, Lisbon.
XXXVIIIth Recontres de Moriond on
Gravitational Waves and Experimental Gravity 2003, March 2003, Les Arcs,
France.
A Vida e o Universo, FNAC Colombo, 21:00, 23 April 2003, Lisbon.
COSLAB Workshop -
Cosmological Phase Transitions and Topological Defects,
22-24 May 2003, Porto.
Séminaire de Physique avancée et Propulsion spatiale
Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, Salle de l'Espace, 24 Juin 2003, Paris.
Third COSLAB Workshop,
First Joint COSLAB - VORTEX - BEC2000+ Workshop ,
The University of the Basque Country, 10-16 July 2003, Bilbao, Spain.
Marte:
Enigma histórico e desafio científico; Planetário Calouste Gulbenkian,
3 September 2003, Lisbon.
Gravitation et
Expérience 2003, 8-10 October 2003, Paris.
VII Semana da Física, IST, October 2003.
Discurso Literário e Discurso Científico, FNAC Colombo, 21:00, 3 December 2003, Lisbon.
Cosmologia no Século XXI, Universidade Católica Portuguesa,
Faculdade de Engenharia, 6 January 2004.
III Workshop Nova Física no Espaço, February 2004,
Campos do Jordão,
São Paulo, Brazil.
Pioneer Anomaly Conference, 18-19 May 2004,
Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM),
Bremen University, Germany.
Our View of the Universe,
Center for Theoretical Study of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic,
Prague, 14 July 2004
Workshop on Quantum Gravity and Noncommutative Geometry, 20-23 July 2004,
Universidade Lusófona, Lisbon, Portugal.
Encontro Nacional de Astronomia e Astrofísica ,
Angra do Heroísmo, 22-23 de Julho 2004,
Universidade dos Açores, Portugal
Second International Workshop DICE2004, From Decoherence and Emergent
Classicality to Emergent Quantum Mechanics , 1-4 September 2004,
Piombino, Italy
FUNDAMENTAL SYMMETRIES AND FUNDAMENTAL CONSTANTS , 15-18 September 2004, Trieste, Italy
VIII Semana da Física, IST, October 2004.
International Symposium, Science, Knowledge and the Market , 21-23 October 2004, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon,
Portugal
Gravitation et
Expérience 2004 , 27-29 October, Nice, France.
Seminario/Evento , Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare,
Sezione Catania, 21 January 2005, Catania, Italy.
IV Workshop Nova Física no Espaço, February 2005,
Campos do Jordão,
São Paulo, Brazil.
V Jornada de Tondela sobre o Ensino das Ciências , March 2005,
Tondela, Portugal.
2005 ESLAB Symposium
"Trends in Space Science and Cosmic Vision 2020", 18-21 April 2005,
ESTEC Noordwijk, The Netherlands.
"Einstein, Vita Mirabilis", 29 April 2005, Coimbra,
Portugal.
KIAS-APCTP-DMRC Workshop on "The Dark Side of the Universe", 24-26 May 2005, KIAS,
Seoul, Korea.
"Einstein e a Relatividade Geral" , 30 May 2005, IST, Lisbon.
"Encontro de Gravitação e Cosmologia" , Complexo Interdisciplinar da Universidade de Lisboa,
27-28 June 2005, Lisbon.
"Deep Impact Mission" , Instituto Geográfico do Exército,
4 July 2005, Lisbon.
"A nossa perspectiva do Universo no século XXI" , Departamento de
Física da Escola de Ciências, Museu Regional de
Arqueologia D. Diogo de Sousa, 16 July 2005, Braga.
"Albert Einstein Century" Conference, 18-22 July 2005, Paris.
XV Encontro Nacional de Astronomia e Astrofísica ,
Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa,
28-30 July 2005, Lisbon.
"100 years of Relativity: International conference on classical and
quantum aspects of gravity and cosmology" , 22-24 August 2005, São
Paulo, Brazil.
"A Vida e a Obra de Albert Einstein", Instituto Geográfico do
Exército, 2 September 2005, 21:30, Lisbon.
XXVIII Spanish Relativity Meeting, E.R.E. 2005
"A Century of Relativity Physics", 6-10 September 2005, Oviedo (Asturias) Spain.
ENTApP Visitor Programme
and Workshop on Dark Matter, 12-21 October 2005, SISSA, Trieste, Italy.
The Pioneer Explorer Collaboration: First Team Meeting at ISSI ,
7-11 November 2005, International Space Science Institute, Bern, Switzerland.
The Planetary Society, "The Pioneer Anomaly Conference at the
International Space Science Institute" , Bern, Switzerland, November 2005.
"A Estrutura do Universo: das galáxias às cordas quânticas",
Observatório Astronómico de Lisboa, 25 November 2005,
Lisbon.
XIV Conferência Nacional de Física, Física para o
Século XXI ,
Edifício da Alfândega, 1-3 December 2005,
Oporto.
"Os sonhos e os pesadelos de Einstein: ciência e ficção
científica" , Marina de Cascais, 18:30, 17 December 2005.
"The gravitational quantum well as a tool for the search of
new physics", Institute Laue-Langevin, College 3, 25 January 2006,
Grenoble.
"General Relativity: an experimental survey" , V Workshop Nova Física no Espaço, February 2006,
Campos do Jordão,
São Paulo, Brazil.
"Cosmologia no Século XXI" , Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas
Físicas, 2 March 2006, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
"A Nossa Perspectiva do Universo, uma introdução ao Livro das
Escolhas Cósmicas" , Centro de Interpretação
Ambiental da Ponta do Sal, Estrada
Marginal, São Pedro do Estoril, 11 March 2006, 21:30.
"Noncommutative Quantum Mechanics" , Gravitational Neutron
Induced Transitions , 6-7 April 2006,
Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie,
Institute Laue-Langevin, Grenoble.
From Quantum to Cosmos: Fundamental Physics Research in Space,
22-24 May 2006, Warrenton, Virginia, USA
The Dark Side of the Universe ,
20-24 June 2006, Madrid, Spain.
Committee on Space Research,
36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly ,
16-23 July 2006, Beijing, China.
11th Marcel Grossmann Meeting ,
23-29 July 2006, Berlin, Germany.
Key Approaches to Dark Energy ,
7-15 August 2006, Barcelona, Spain.
"20th European Cosmic Ray Symposium" ,
5-8 September 2006, Lisbon, Portugal.
"Third International Workshop DICE2006" ,
Quantum Mechanics between Decoherence and Determinism:
new aspects from particle physics to cosmology , 11-15 September 2006,
Piombino, Italy.
"Vida no Universo e Argumentos Antrópicos" ,
Instituto Geográfico do Exército,
22 September 2006, 21:30, Lisbon.
"International Workshop on Advances in Precision Tests and
Experimental Gravitation in Space" , 28-30 September 2006, Firenze,
Italy.
"Astronomy & Astrophysics Research in Portugal: Its Impact and Future
Perspectives" , 13 October 2006, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation,
Lisbon, Portugal.
"Strings versus Cosmology" , 16-17 November 2006, Madrid, Spain.
"3RD ANNUAL MEETING, ILIAS/N6-ENTApP - European Network on Theoretical
Astroparticle Physics " , 12-14 December 2006, Paris, France.
"Searching for the nature of dark energy and dark matter" , VI Workshop
Nova Física no Espaço, 4-9 February 2007,
Campos do Jordão,
São Paulo, Brazil.
The Pioneer Explorer Collaboration: Second Team Meeting at ISSI ,
19-23 February 2007, International Space Science Institute, Bern, Switzerland.
A nossa perspectiva do Universo ,
European Masterclasses on Particle and Astroparticle Physics ,
24 March 2007, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Portugal.
BILBAO ENCOUNTER ON NEW STANDARD COSMOLOGY ,
11-12 Abril 2007, University of the Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain.
Vida no Universo e Princípios Antrópicos,
26 May 2007, Centro de Interpretação Ambiental,
Estrada Marginal, São Pedro do Estoril.
Sessão de Autógrafos,
27 May 2007, 77a. Feira do Livro de Lisboa, Parque Eduardo VII, Lisbon.
Sessão de Autógrafos,
3 June 2007, 77a. Feira do Livro do Porto, Pavilhão Rosa Mota, Oporto.
From Quantum to Cosmos 2, Space-based research in fundamental physics and
quantum technologies,
10-13 June 2007, Bremen, Germany
From Quantum to Emergent Gravity: Theory and Phenomenology,
SISSA, 11-15 June 2007, Trieste, Italy
Lorentz and other symmetries in Braveworld Scenarios,
Universidad de Santiago do Chile, 29 August 2007, Santiago, Chile
Nuestra Perspectiva del Universo,
Universidad de Santiago do Chile, 30 August 2007, Santiago,
Chile
Encuentros Relativistas Españoles - Spanish Relativity Meeting,
Puerto de La Cruz, 10-14 September 2007, Tenerife, Spain
Scientific and Fundamental Aspects of the Galileo Programme ,
1-4 October 2007, Cité de l´Espace, Toulouse, France.
XI Semana da Física, IST, November 2007.
"Interacting dark energy and dark matter" , VII Workshop Nova Física no Espaço, 10-15 February 2008,
Campos do Jordão,
São Paulo, Brazil.
The Pioneer Explorer Collaboration: Third Team Meeting at ISSI ,
18-22 February 2008, International Space Science Institute, Bern, Switzerland.
IIIrd Iberian Cosmology Meeting, Complexo Interdisciplinar da
Universidade de Lisboa, 6-7 March 2008.
Cosmologia no século XXI,
Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, 13:00, 6 March 2008,
Sala 8.2.38.
Masterclass: Com Mãos nas Partículas,
Instituto Superior Técnico, 8 March 2008, Lisboa.
Sessão de Autógrafos, O Livro das Escolhas Cósmicas,
1 June 2008, 78a. Feira do Livro de Lisboa, Parque Eduardo VII, Lisbon.
Sessão de Autógrafos, O Livro das Escolhas Cósmicas,
8 June 2008, 78a. Feira do Livro do Porto, Pavilhão Rosa Mota, Oporto.
