Fellowship

Professor Daniele Faccio gained his PhD in Physics from the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France, in 2007 and became Professor in Physics at Heriot-Watt University in 2012. Daniele works in the field of quantum physics with research interests in two main topics: quantum physics in curved spacetimes and quantum imaging. Using the analogy between gravity and the propagation of light in refractive index media, he showed the first experimental hints of Hawking radiation (aka black hole evaporation) in an optical system. Daniele has shown how new imaging sensors developed for detecting single photons can be used to detect and precisely time the very faint return echoes of light bouncing off objects e.g. people hidden behind a wall or corner. These techniques are finding applications in the automotive industry and medical imaging.