Claudia de Rham (born 29 March 1978) is a Swiss

theoretical physicist Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experi ...

working at the interface of gravity, cosmology, and particle physics. She is based at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

. She was one of the UK finalists in the Physical Sciences and Engineering category of the Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists in 2018 for revitalizing the theory of

massive gravity Massive is an adjective related to mass. Massive may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Massive (band), an Australian Hard Rock band * ''Massive'', an album by The Supervillains released in 2008 * Massive Attack, a British musical group ...

and won the award in 2020.

Early life and education

De Rham was born in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

. She completed her undergraduate studies in France, receiving a ''

Diplôme d'Ingénieur The ''Diplôme d'Ingénieur'' (, often abbreviated as ''Dipl.Ing.'') is a postgraduate degree in engineering ''(see Engineer's Degrees in Europe)'' usually awarded by the '' Grandes Écoles'' in engineering. It is generally obtained after five to ...

'' in physics at the

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

in Paris in 2000. She received a master's degree in physics from the

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (, EPFL) is a public university, public research university in Lausanne, Switzerland, founded in 1969 with the mission to "train talented engineers in Switzerland". Like its sister institution E ...

in 2001. In 2002, de Rham moved to the UK, achieving a PhD in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

on "

braneworld Brane cosmology refers to several theories in particle physics and cosmology related to string theory, superstring theory and M-theory. Brane and bulk The central idea is that the visible, four-dimensional spacetime is restricted to a brane i ...

cosmology beyond the low-energy limit". She has trained as a pilot and made it through several stages of the European Space Agency's astronaut selection process.

Research

After earning her PhD, de Rham went to Montreal to join the physics department at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

. She moved to

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

in Hamilton and the

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI, Perimeter, PITP) is an independent research centre in foundational theoretical physics located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1999. The institute's founding and major benefactor i ...

in Waterloo, Ontario, in 2006, where she worked in a joint postdoctoral position in cosmology. In 2010, she joined the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

as an assistant professor. She moved to

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2011 and became an associate professor there in 2016. She joined

in 2016. That year, she was awarded a £100,000 Wolfson Merit Award from the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. Her research is in the area of theoretical cosmology, and she explores gravitational models that could explain the accelerated expansion of the universe. De Rham is recognised as a researcher at the forefront of the development of theories of

, where the particle carrier of the gravitational force, the

graviton In theories of quantum gravity, the graviton is the hypothetical elementary particle that mediates the force of gravitational interaction. There is no complete quantum field theory of gravitons due to an outstanding mathematical problem with re ...

, may be massive. In 2010, she constructed a nonlinear theory of a massive graviton, which is theoretically consistent and

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

-free. That formulation of massive gravity is now known as "de Rham-Gabadadze-Tolley (dRGT) theory", owing to its discovery by de Rham,

Gregory Gabadadze Gregory Gabadadze is a theoretical physicist specializing in the fields of gravity, cosmology and particle physics. He holds the position of Professor of Physics at New York University, where he also serves as the Dean for Science in the School f ...

, and Andrew J. Tolley. Her research helps tackle the problem of the

cosmological constant In cosmology, the cosmological constant (usually denoted by the Greek capital letter lambda: ), alternatively called Einstein's cosmological constant, is a coefficient that Albert Einstein initially added to his field equations of general rel ...

and could describe the accelerated expansion of the universe as a purely gravitational effect, where massive gravitons are responsible for

dark energy In physical cosmology and astronomy, dark energy is a proposed form of energy that affects the universe on the largest scales. Its primary effect is to drive the accelerating expansion of the universe. It also slows the rate of structure format ...

. In 2015, she gave a

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

talk titled "Nature of the Graviton". She gives regular public lectures about theoretical cosmology. De Rham was interviewed by

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and narrator. In a career spanning six decades, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a Tony ...

in season 8 of ''

Through the Wormhole ''Through the Wormhole'' is an American science Documentary film, documentary television series narrated and hosted by American actor Morgan Freeman. It began airing on Science Channel in the United States on June 9, 2010. The series concluded i ...

''.

Publications

In November 2023, de Rham co-authored ''The Encyclopedia of Cosmology, Set 2: Frontiers in Cosmology''
Volume 1: Modified Gravity
with Andrew J Tolley, also of Imperial College London. In April 2024, she published ''The Beauty of Falling: A Life in Pursuit of Gravity''.

Awards and leadership roles

* 2010–2014: PI on Swiss National Foundation Professorship Grant, for the project "Challenging the cosmological paradigm" * 2012–2013: PI on ACES Advance Opportunity Grant, for the project "Recent Developments in Massive Gravity" * 2016–2021: Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award * 2017: EPFL Alumni Award * 2017–2021: PI on

Simons Foundation The Simons Foundation is an American private foundation established in 1994 by Marilyn and James Harris Simons, Jim Simons with offices in New York City. As one of the largest charitable organizations in the United States with assets of over $5 ...

Award, "Origins of the Universe" program with Rachel Rosen * 2017–2022: PI on ERC consolidator grant, for the project "Massive Gravity and Cosmology" * 2018:

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

Adams Prize The Adams Prize is a prize awarded each year by the Faculty of Mathematics at St John's College to a UK-based mathematician for distinguished research in mathematical sciences. The prize is named after the mathematician John Couch Adams and wa ...

* 2018: Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists: finalist, UK Physical Sciences and Engineering * 2020: Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists: winner, UK Physical Sciences and Engineering * 2023: Elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

References

External links