This is the latest of an ongoing series of interviews with people involved with our new Open Access journal, Experimental Results – a forum for short research papers from experimental disciplines across Science, Technology and Medicine, providing authors with an outlet for rapid publication of small chunks of research findings with maximum visibility.

Can you tell us a bit about your background, and what your current research is focused on?
I graduated in astrophysics in Pisa and then I moved to Torino, where I obtained my Ph.D. in theoretical physics. My area of interest pertains to relativistic theories of gravity; in particular, I study rotation effects in relativity, such as the so-called gravito-magnetic effects, theories alternative to General Relativity, that have been proposed for their cosmological implications, such as f(R), f(T) and, eventually, I am interested in relativistic positioning systems.

What has been your biggest challenge in your career so far?
Even though my background is in theoretical physics and astrophysics, I have always been interested in the possibility of testing the theoretical predictions by experiments or observations. Einstein’s theory predicts that mass currents generate a gravito-magnetic field, in close analogy to what happens to charge currents in Maxwell’s electromagnetism; this field has no analogue in Newtonian gravity, hence it is a “post-Newtonian” effect. Up today, it has been tested in space, but measuring these effects in a terrestrial laboratory is very challenging, since they are quite feeble. We are working on this, by considering suitable devices and experimental designs, such as ring lasers, for instance, which are very accurate rotation sensors and good candidates to tests these effects on the Earth.

Why did you decide to become a Reviewing Editor and Social Media Editor?
I was immediately excited about the idea of being part of such an innovative project. The world of science journals is ever evolving, new media have indeed completely changed the way researchers are informed about the most recent findings. I think that Experimental Results will give further momentum to the innovation process, thanks to its novel approach, based on open access and open peer review models. The communication of experimental findings is essential for all researchers: today, social media are part of the research process, since they enable scientists to publicly discuss with each other, which is also a powerful way of popularising science. It is thrilling to contribute to this process as Social Media Editor!

How will Experimental Results benefit your research field?
As I said before, Experimental Results has a novel and – according to me – powerful approach: the focus is on short research papers about experimental findings that are important in various disciplines. Rapidity and visibility provide added value to published works. This is very important in my research field: you know, we are in the golden age of experiments in gravitational physics – just think about the enormous experimental endeavour in the search of gravitational waves! This is the era of multi-messenger astronomy, lots of data are available and need to be analysed in order to have a deeper understanding of our Universe: Experimental Results could host many exciting findings in this field!

What excites you about Experimental Results?
I like the possibility of being part of the innovation process that Experimental Results is going to introduce in science journals. Furthermore, both as Reviewing Editor and Social Media Editor, I will be able to be updated about the most recent findings in physics and astronomy, which is very exciting! I would like to thank Cambridge University Press for giving me this possibility and, together with my colleagues, I am sure we will do a great job!

Find out more about the journal, or submit your research here