My main research interest is protoplanetary discs, the environments where planet form. I am interested in understanding the role of self-gravity and gravitational instability in protoplanetary discs structure, evolution and in the process of planet formation. To do so, I mainly use hydrodynamical simulations and data from the ALMA telescope. Here you find my ADS page.

So far, gravitational instability in protostellar discs has mostly been studied in isolated systems, where cooling regulates its onset. In this classical picture, discs self-adjust to a marginally stable state ($Q \sim 1$), and fragmentation occurs only if cooling is sufficiently rapid. But real young discs are not isolated. They are continuously fed by infall from their surrounding envelopes, as shown in ALMA observations. In this regime, instability may be driven not by cooling, but by mass loading. As material accumulates, surface density increases and angular momentum must be redistributed. We explore gravitational instability in this externally driven regime, asking a simple but fundamental question: What happens when instability is regulated by infall, rather than cooling?

• Paper

Modelling rotation curves of protoplanetary discs: dynamical masses

So far, disc masses have often been estimated from dust continuum emission, assuming a fixed dust-to-gas ratio and optically thin emission. In this classical picture, the disc mass is derived indirectly from its brightness, with uncertainties dominated by opacity, temperature, and chemical assumptions. However, for massive discs, we can instead turn to kinematics. High-resolution ALMA observations reveal systems where the disc’s own gravity can measurably alter the rotation curve. In this regime, the velocity field deviates from purely Keplerian motion: the disc is no longer a passive tracer of the stellar mass, but an active contributor to the gravitational potential. We explore disc masses through their dynamical imprint on rotation curves within the exoALMA sample, combining detailed modelling of gas kinematics with self-consistent gravitational potentials and pressure gradient..

• Paper

Dust dynamics in gravitationally unstable discs

Decription Project 1.

• Paper

Kinematic signatures of gravitational instability

Decription Project 2.

• Paper