Francesco Becattini

Full Professor of Theoretical Physics

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence & INFN Sezione di Firenze

Via G. Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy

francesco.becattini@unifi.it · +39 348 0561978 · ORCID 0000-0001-9956-9114

Web: sites.google.com/unifi.it/francescobecattiniwebpage/home-page

PROFILE

Theoretical physicist working on relativistic statistical mechanics, quantum field theory at finite temperature and relativistic hydrodynamics, with applications to high-energy nuclear and elementary collisions. Mostly known for the development of the statistical hadronization model and for the theory of spin polarization in relativistic fluids and the Quark-Gluon Plasma. Included in the Stanford/Elsevier World's Top 2% Scientists ranking.

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

2018–present Full Professor of Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence, Italy

2017 Adjunct Professor, New York University, Florence, Italy

2010–2017 Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence, Italy

1999–2009 Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence, Italy

1996–1998 Postdoctoral fellowship, INFN, Italy

EDUCATION

1995–1996 PhD in Physics, University of Florence, Italy. Thesis: “Studio della produzione inclusiva di adroni nelle collisioni e⁺e⁻ a LEP”

1992 Corso di perfezionamento in fisica, University of Pisa, Italy

1991 Master (Laurea) in Physics, University of Florence, Italy

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Relativistic quantum statistical mechanics; local thermodynamic equilibrium in quantum field theory in flat and curved space-time

• Spin polarization in relativistic fluids: theory and phenomenology

• Statistical hadronization and thermal models of particle production in elementary and heavy-ion collisions

• Relativistic hydrodynamics and quark-gluon plasma

HONOURS AND RECOGNITIONS

2026 Stanford/Elsevier World's Top 2% Scientists (career-long and 2025 single-year lists): rank 334 in Nuclear & Particle Physics, rank 25,178 overall

2014–present Member of the Academia Europaea

RESEARCH OUTPUT (SUMMARY)

• 101 publications in international refereed journals, excluding L3 Collaboration papers (source: INSPIRE-HEP, October 2026)

• 11,259 total citations, h-index 53, 111 citations per paper (source: INSPIRE-HEP, October 2026)

• Editor of the volume Strongly Interacting Matter under Rotation, Lecture Notes in Physics, Springer

Selected publications

1. F. Becattini, M. A. Lisa, Polarization and vorticity in the quark-gluon plasma, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 70 (2020) 395 (review).

2. F. Becattini, V. Chandra, L. Del Zanna, E. Grossi, Relativistic distribution function for particles with spin at local thermodynamical equilibrium, Ann. Phys. 338 (2013) 32.

3. F. Becattini, F. Piccinini, J. Rizzo, Angular momentum conservation in heavy ion collisions at very high energy, Phys. Rev. C 77 (2008) 024906.

4. F. Becattini, J. Manninen, M. Gaździcki, Energy and system size dependence of chemical freeze-out in relativistic nuclear collisions, Phys. Rev. C 73 (2006) 044905.

5. F. Becattini, A thermodynamical approach to hadron production in e⁺e⁻ collisions, Z. Phys. C 69 (1996) 485.

Full list of publications:

INSPIRE-HEP: inspirehep.net/authors/1017017

Google Scholar: scholar.google.com/citations?user=xI475CAAAAAJ

INVITED TALKS AND CONFERENCES (SUMMARY)

• About 100 talks at international conferences and workshops, including many invited plenary and review talks, e.g. at Spin 2025, Quark Matter (2008 and 2018), Strangeness in Quark Matter (several editions).

• About 100 invited seminars and colloquia at academic institutions; lecturer at several international schools in Europe.

• Organizer of conferences (three as chairman or main organizer) and of several workshops in Italy and Europe. Member of the scientific advisory committees of international conferences such as Chirality, Vorticity and Magnetic Fields in Quantum Matter, Strangeness in Quark Matter, Multiparticle Dynamics.

RESEARCH GRANTS AND PROJECTS

2002–present Founder (2002) and member of an INFN (Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics) research project on the theory of relativistic heavy-ion collisions

2003–2016 PI of the INFN projects FI31, RM31, SIM on the theory of relativistic heavy-ion collisions (2003–2005 and 2008–2016)

2011–2013 PI of the project PRIN-09, funded by the Italian Ministry of Research, on the physics of the Quark-Gluon Plasma and relativistic heavy-ion collisions

2015–2017 PI of the University of Florence project on the physics of relativistic plasma

2023–2025 PI of the project PRIN-22 on the physics of heavy-ion collisions

Member of several other funded projects in Italy and of the European Union.

TEACHING AND SUPERVISION

• Undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Florence, including Statistical Mechanics, Advanced Statistical Mechanics, General Relativity, Special Relativity, Mathematical Methods and Group Theory, General Physics for Earth Scientists, Theory of Relativistic Matter.

• Supervisor of 10 PhD theses and 14 Master theses; mentor of 9 postdoctoral researchers (up to 2026).

SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY

• Editorial boards: European Physical Journal Plus; Acta Physica Polonica B (editorial council)

• Referee for most major physics journals, including Nature, Nature Physics and Physical Review Letters, and for funding agencies (NSF in several countries, DOE and others)

• Institutional roles: member of the Department board and of the PhD board

LANGUAGES

Italian (native), English (fluent), French (good)

Florence, 20 October 2026

I miei interessi scientifici attuali vertono su:

- Materia e fluidi relativistici in spaziotempo piatto e curvo

- Meccanica statistica relativistica

- Fisica delle collisioni nucleari di altissima energia e plasma di QCD

- Effetti quantistici nella materia relativistica e polarizzazione nei fluidi relativistici

Pagina web personale

sites.google.com/unifi.it/francescobecattiniwebpage/home-page

Francesco Becattini

Full Professor of Theoretical Physics

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence & INFN Sezione di Firenze

Via G. Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy

francesco.becattini@unifi.it · +39 348 0561978 · ORCID 0000-0001-9956-9114

Web: sites.google.com/unifi.it/francescobecattiniwebpage/home-page

PROFILE

Theoretical physicist working on relativistic statistical mechanics, quantum field theory at finite temperature and relativistic hydrodynamics, with applications to high-energy nuclear and elementary collisions. Mostly known for the development of the statistical hadronization model and for the theory of spin polarization in relativistic fluids and the Quark-Gluon Plasma. Included in the Stanford/Elsevier World's Top 2% Scientists ranking.

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

2018–present Full Professor of Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence, Italy

2017 Adjunct Professor, New York University, Florence, Italy

2010–2017 Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence, Italy

1999–2009 Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence, Italy

1996–1998 Postdoctoral fellowship, INFN, Italy

EDUCATION

1995–1996 PhD in Physics, University of Florence, Italy. Thesis: “Studio della produzione inclusiva di adroni nelle collisioni e⁺e⁻ a LEP”

1992 Corso di perfezionamento in fisica, University of Pisa, Italy

1991 Master (Laurea) in Physics, University of Florence, Italy

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Relativistic quantum statistical mechanics; local thermodynamic equilibrium in quantum field theory in flat and curved space-time

• Spin polarization in relativistic fluids: theory and phenomenology

• Statistical hadronization and thermal models of particle production in elementary and heavy-ion collisions

• Relativistic hydrodynamics and quark-gluon plasma

HONOURS AND RECOGNITIONS

2026 Stanford/Elsevier World's Top 2% Scientists (career-long and 2025 single-year lists): rank 334 in Nuclear & Particle Physics, rank 25,178 overall

2014–present Member of the Academia Europaea

RESEARCH OUTPUT (SUMMARY)

• 101 publications in international refereed journals, excluding L3 Collaboration papers (source: INSPIRE-HEP, October 2026)

• 11,259 total citations, h-index 53, 111 citations per paper (source: INSPIRE-HEP, October 2026)

• Editor of the volume Strongly Interacting Matter under Rotation, Lecture Notes in Physics, Springer

Selected publications

1. F. Becattini, M. A. Lisa, Polarization and vorticity in the quark-gluon plasma, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 70 (2020) 395 (review).

2. F. Becattini, V. Chandra, L. Del Zanna, E. Grossi, Relativistic distribution function for particles with spin at local thermodynamical equilibrium, Ann. Phys. 338 (2013) 32.

3. F. Becattini, F. Piccinini, J. Rizzo, Angular momentum conservation in heavy ion collisions at very high energy, Phys. Rev. C 77 (2008) 024906.

4. F. Becattini, J. Manninen, M. Gaździcki, Energy and system size dependence of chemical freeze-out in relativistic nuclear collisions, Phys. Rev. C 73 (2006) 044905.

5. F. Becattini, A thermodynamical approach to hadron production in e⁺e⁻ collisions, Z. Phys. C 69 (1996) 485.

Full list of publications:

INSPIRE-HEP: inspirehep.net/authors/1017017

Google Scholar: scholar.google.com/citations?user=xI475CAAAAAJ

INVITED TALKS AND CONFERENCES (SUMMARY)

• About 100 talks at international conferences and workshops, including many invited plenary and review talks, e.g. at Spin 2025, Quark Matter (2008 and 2018), Strangeness in Quark Matter (several editions).

• About 100 invited seminars and colloquia at academic institutions; lecturer at several international schools in Europe.

• Organizer of conferences (three as chairman or main organizer) and of several workshops in Italy and Europe. Member of the scientific advisory committees of international conferences such as Chirality, Vorticity and Magnetic Fields in Quantum Matter, Strangeness in Quark Matter, Multiparticle Dynamics.

RESEARCH GRANTS AND PROJECTS

2002–present Founder (2002) and member of an INFN (Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics) research project on the theory of relativistic heavy-ion collisions

2003–2016 PI of the INFN projects FI31, RM31, SIM on the theory of relativistic heavy-ion collisions (2003–2005 and 2008–2016)

2011–2013 PI of the project PRIN-09, funded by the Italian Ministry of Research, on the physics of the Quark-Gluon Plasma and relativistic heavy-ion collisions

2015–2017 PI of the University of Florence project on the physics of relativistic plasma

2023–2025 PI of the project PRIN-22 on the physics of heavy-ion collisions

Member of several other funded projects in Italy and of the European Union.

TEACHING AND SUPERVISION

• Undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Florence, including Statistical Mechanics, Advanced Statistical Mechanics, General Relativity, Special Relativity, Mathematical Methods and Group Theory, General Physics for Earth Scientists, Theory of Relativistic Matter.

• Supervisor of 10 PhD theses and 14 Master theses; mentor of 9 postdoctoral researchers (up to 2026).

SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY

• Editorial boards: European Physical Journal Plus; Acta Physica Polonica B (editorial council)

• Referee for most major physics journals, including Nature, Nature Physics and Physical Review Letters, and for funding agencies (NSF in several countries, DOE and others)

• Institutional roles: member of the Department board and of the PhD board

LANGUAGES

Italian (native), English (fluent), French (good)

Florence, 20 October 2026

Relativistic matter and relativistic fluids in flat and curved spacetimes

Quantum relativistic statistical mechanics

High energy nuclear collisions and the physics of the QCD plasma

Quantum effects in relativistic matter and polarization of relativistic fluids