Hi! I'm G. Bruno De Luca.

I'm a Theoretical Physicist, working on quantum gravity and cosmology, and on the interface between physics and Artificial Intelligence (Machine Learning).

Currently, I'm a Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford. I'm on @gbdl and you can find my e-mail address in my research papers below.

Current research

Quantum gravity and Cosmology. I am studying how to describe cosmological space-times in quantum gravity. I realized (with E. Silverstein and G. Torroba) de Sitter compactifications of M-theory on hyperbolic spaces, supported by quantum effects [1]. During my PhD, I constructed (with A. Tomasiello and C. Córdova) explicit classical de Sitter solutions of type II string theory [2,3], supported by orientifold planes.

Physics for Machine Learning. I am deeply curious about Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, in particular about how to understand and advance this new paradigm of computation with methods borrowed from physics. By drawing parallels with various physical systems, I developed and implemented (with E. Silverstein and A. Gatti) Energy Conserving Descent, a class of optimization algorithms that extremize an objective function while following an energy-conserving dynamics, thereby avoiding stopping at local minima [4, 5]. Along with J. Robnik, U. Seljak, and E. Silverstein, I introduced Microcanical Hamiltonian Monte Carlo, a class of sampling algorithms that explores and samples from a target distribution while evolving on a fixed energy surface, yielding advantages compared to standard HMC methods [6].

Physics and mathematics of extra dimensions. Extra dimensions are predicted by string theory, and their geometry determines the physics we observe in four dimensions. With A. Tomasiello, N. De Ponti and A. Mondino I am investigating the mathematical properties of these geometries and their physical implications, using tools from Optimal Transport theory and Bakry-Èmery geometry [7, 8, 9]. For example, we discovered that the gravitational equations for vacuum compactifications (and more general warped product space-times) are completely equivalent to a thermodynamic condition: a concavity property of Tsallis entropy [10].

Machine Learning for Theoretical Physics. Can we use the power of these new tools to answer open questions in (theoretical) physics? Stay tuned! =)

Some research talks

A dS from higher dimensions , Deconstructing the De Sitter landscape (IPHT, Saclay 11/30/2023) [video].

A dS from higher dimensions , Swamplandia Workshop (Madrid, 09/15/2023) [slides].

The matter with TTbar + Λ₂ , Cosmology, Quantum Gravity, and Holography: the Interplay of Fundamental Concepts (CERN, 09/07/2023) [slides].

Gravity from Thermodynamics and Optimal Transport, Supergravity 2022 [slides].

Born-Infeld (BI) for AI: Energy-Conserving Descent (ECD) for Optimization, ICML 2022, Oral presentation [video+slides].

Bounds on spin-two Kaluza-Klein fields, Swampland seminars (virtual), 05/31/2022 [video].

Hyperbolic compactification of M-theory and dS quantum gravity, Simons Symposium on Origins of the Universe, 04/28/2022 [slides].

Bounds on spin-two Kaluza-Klein fields, Kadanoff Center for Theoretical Physics, 02/16/2022 [video] .

New non-supersymmetric compactifications with sources, Southwest Strings meeting 2020 [slides].

Optimal Transport derivation of Einstein's equations, Theoretically Podcasting [video].

Selected publications

You can find a more extensive list on Inspire-HEP or Google Scholar



Can you hear the Planck mass?, G. Bruno De Luca, Nicolò De Ponti, Andrea Mondino, Alessandro Tomasiello

e-Print: 2406.00095



Bulk-local dS3 holography: the Matter with TT+Λ2, Gauri Batra, G. Bruno De Luca, Eva Silverstein, Gonzalo Torroba, Sungyeon Yang

e-Print: 2403.01040


Harmonic functions and gravity localization, G. Bruno De Luca, Nicolò De Ponti, Andrea Mondino, Alessandro Tomasiello

e-Print: 2306.05456 | DOI: 10.1007/JHEP09(2023)127 | Published in: JHEP 09 (2023)


Improving Energy Conserving Descent for Machine Learning: Theory and Practice, G. Bruno De Luca, Alice Gatti, Eva Silverstein

e-Print: 2306.00352


Microcanonical Hamiltonian Monte Carlo, Jakob Robnik, G. Bruno De Luca, Eva Silverstein, Uroš Seljak

e-Print: 2212.08549 | URL: JMLR | Published in Journal of Machine Learning Research 24.311 (2023). 2023.


Gravity from thermodynamics: optimal transport and negative effective dimensions, G. Bruno De Luca, Nicolò De Ponti, Andrea Mondino, Alessandro Tomasiello

e-Print: 2212.02511 | DOI: 10.21468/SciPostPhys.15.1.039 | Published in: SciPost Phys. 15 (2023), 039


Born-Infeld (BI) for AI: Energy-Conserving Descent (ECD) for Optimization, G. Bruno De Luca, Eva Silverstein

e-Print: 2201.11137 | Published in: Proceedings of the 39th International Conference on Machine Learning, PMLR 162:4918-4936, 2022


Non-supersymmetric AdS6 and the swampland, Fabio Apruzzi, G. Bruno De Luca, Gabriele Lo Monaco, Christoph F. Uhlemann

e-Print: 2110.03003 | DOI: 10.1007/JHEP12(2021)187 | Published in: JHEP 12 (2021), 187

Cheeger bounds on spin-two fields, G. Bruno De Luca, Nicolò De Ponti, Andrea Mondino, Alessandro Tomasiello

e-Print: 2109.11560 | DOI: 10.1007/JHEP12(2021)217 | Published in: JHEP 12 (2021), 217

Hyperbolic compactification of M-theory and de Sitter quantum gravity, G. Bruno De Luca, Eva Silverstein, Gonzalo Torroba

e-Print: 2104.13380 | DOI: 10.21468/SciPostPhys.12.3.083 | Published in: SciPost Phys. 12 (2022) 3, 083

Leaps and bounds towards scale separation, G. Bruno De Luca, Alessandro Tomasiello

e-Print: 2104.12773 | DOI: 10.1007/JHEP12(2021)086 | Published in: JHEP 12 (2021), 086

Geometry of quantum complexity, Roberto Auzzi, Stefano Baiguera, G. Bruno De Luca, Andrea Legramandi, Giuseppe Nardelli and Nicolò Zenoni

e-Print: 2011.07601 | DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.103.106021 | Published in: Phys.Rev.D 103 (2021) 10, 106021

Oh, wait, O8 de Sitter may be unstable!, Iosif Bena, G. Bruno De Luca, Mariana Graña, Gabriele Lo Monaco

e-Print: 2010.05936 | DOI: 10.1007/JHEP03(2021)168 | Published in: JHEP 03 (2021), 168

On AdS7 stability, Fabio Apruzzi, G. Bruno De Luca, Alessandra Gnecchi, Gabriele Lo Monaco, Alessandro Tomasiello

e-Print: 1912.13491 | DOI: 10.1007/JHEP07(2020)033 | Published in: JHEP 07 (2020), 033

New de Sitter Solutions in Ten Dimensions and Orientifold Singularities, Clay Córdova, G. Bruno De Luca, Alessandro Tomasiello

e-Print: 1911.04498 | DOI: 10.1007/JHEP08(2020)093 | Published in: JHEP 08 (2020), 093

Classical de Sitter Solutions of 10-Dimensional Supergravity, Clay Córdova, G. Bruno De Luca, Alessandro Tomasiello

e-Print: 1812.04147 | DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.091601 | Published in: Phys.Rev.Lett. 122 (2019) 9, 091601

AdS8 solutions in type II supergravity, Clay Córdova, G. Bruno De Luca, Alessandro Tomasiello

e-Print: 1811.06987 | DOI: 10.1007/JHEP07(2019)127 | Published in: JHEP 07 (2019), 127


Holographic duals of 6d RG flows, G.Bruno De Luca, Alessandra Gnecchi, Gabriele Lo Monaco, Alessandro Tomasiello

e-Print: 1810.10013 | DOI: 10.1007/JHEP03(2019)035 | Published in: JHEP 03 (2019), 035


The geometry of N=3 AdS4 in massive IIA, G. Bruno De Luca, Gabriele Lo Monaco, Niall T. Macpherson, Alessandro Tomasiello, Oscar Varela

e-Print: 1805.04823 | DOI: 10.1007/JHEP08(2018)133 | Published in: JHEP 08 (2018), 133