I worked mainly on N-body/SPH simulations of minor mergers of galaxies, especially in relation to the pairing and growth of the supermassive black holes (see also here) that might be present in their bulges. We also proposed a new model for the formation of massive black hole seeds, and performed some successful simulations of the formation of late-type disk galaxies. Other topics of interest include AGN activity and its connection to dynamical triggers, and the origin and dynamics of dwarf galaxies (spheroidal and irregular).
I got my Master degree in Astrophysics and Space Physics at the University of Milano-Bicocca under the supervision of prof. Monica Colpi, working on tidal effects during interactions between galaxies with a high mass ratio.
