Just Give It a Go!

Abstract

It was the end of 2004.

At that time, I was a disoriented and unmotivated student reaching the completion of the M.Sc. programme (‘laurea specialistica’) in theoretical physics at the University of Pisa. My grade point average was excellent, but I had taken more time than necessary and furthermore over the years my initial passion towards theoretical physics had given way to an exciting admiration towards the stringent rigour of mathematics.

I remember myself as a not-so-young and somewhat confused senior in search for a subject to write his M.Sc. thesis on, which cover a problem of interest in physics and be at the same time mathematically deep rooted. In the physics department quite an amount of professors had a profound knowledge of mathematics, but “Professor Morchio knows much more”, as a fellow mate used to tell me to encourage me to fix a meeting with Gianni.

It was in such a position that one day I finally went to Gianni’s office and there, after a brief conversation, my adventure in the world of mathematical physics actually began.