Orfeu Bertolami (

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, 1959) is a

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 ...

who works in problems of

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of grav ...

and

quantum gravity Quantum gravity (QG) is a field of theoretical physics that seeks to describe gravity according to the principles of quantum mechanics. It deals with environments in which neither gravitational nor quantum effects can be ignored, such as in the v ...

. He worked at

Instituto Superior Técnico The Instituto Superior Técnico (IST, also known as Técnico, and stylized TÉCNICO LISBOA; English: ) is the school of engineering and technology of the University of Lisbon. It was founded as an autonomous school in 1911, and was integrated in ...

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

from 1991 to 2010. He is currently professor at Departamento de Física e Astronomia of the Faculdade de Ciências da

Universidade do Porto The University of Porto (''Universidade do Porto'') is a Portugal, Portuguese Public university, public research university located in Porto, and founded on 22 March 1911. It is the second largest Portuguese university by number of enrolled stu ...

. He is the author of a book to raise the awareness of the public on science about the

history of ideas Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual hist ...

in astronomy, cosmology and theories of gravity (in Portuguese) and of a technical text on the aspects of gravity and propulsion in space published by the European Space Agency: * ''O Livro das Escolhas Cósmicas'', Editora Gradiva 2006 * ''Gravity Control and Possible Influence on Space Propulsion: A Scientific Study'', European Space Agency 2002 In particular, Bertolami studie
baryogengesis
th
cosmological constant problem
and its connection with th
equivalence principle
th
generalized Chaplygin gas model
of unification of

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 ...

(to explain the cosmic acceleration) and

Dark Matter In astronomy, dark matter is an invisible and hypothetical form of matter that does not interact with light or other electromagnetic radiation. Dark matter is implied by gravity, gravitational effects that cannot be explained by general relat ...

(to explain the flattening of the rotation curves of galaxies) and some Modified models of gravity wit
non-minimal coupling between curvature and matter
He has also worked on the

Pioneer Anomaly The Pioneer anomaly, or Pioneer effect, was the observed deviation from predicted accelerations of the ''Pioneer 10'' and ''Pioneer 11'' spacecraft after they passed about on their trajectories out of the Solar System. The apparent anomaly was ...

, which was shown to be most likely due to
on-board thermal effects
an
reflection of the generated radiation
Most recent work concern
extensions of quantum mechanics based on phase-space noncommutativity

External links

Publications according to the INSPIRE High Energy Physics Database
* Contributors to Physical cosmology Brazilian physicists Cosmologists Jewish Brazilian writers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Physicist-stub