Sofiya Sianiuta

Short presentation

I am a PhD student working under the supervision of PI Chia-Hsien Shen in the ERC Starting Grant project «AmpEFT: Scattering Amplitudes for Effective Field Theory: Simplicity and Structures from Classical to Quantum».

I am also a member of the Ångstöm Science Communication and Outreach group since May 2026, where I am co-organising the departments biweekly ScientiFika event. Additionally, I am organizing and hosting the HEP-TH Journal Club based at my division, since September 2026.

Keywords

• Scattering amplitudes
• Worldline Effective Field Theories
• Gravity

Biography

I have a Master's degree in Applied Physics and Mathematics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), which I finalized with a thesis on Higgs-Mediated Neutrino Pair Production in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. During my master's degree, I spend a one-year exchange at the University of Bologna, where I took courses from the master's program in Theoretical Physics. 

Research

My research revolves around theoretical modeling of scattering and bound motion of black holes, which are sources of gravitational waves, the latter being detected by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration. I use the tools of effective quantum field theories and scattering amplitudes. Currently, I am working on

• Modeling tidal deformations of the black holes in the framework of Wordline Effective Field Theory (WEFT) by analytically solving Euler-Lagrange equations in asymptotic domains, using the method of matched asymptotic expansions.
• Connecting WEFT solutions for the above-mentioned problem with Black Hole Perturbation Theory.
• Properties of asymptotic observables, and their connection to the underlying high-energy theory data via detector correlation functions.