Astrophysicist and City Tech Professor of Physics Viviana Acquaviva has released a new book, Machine Learning for Physics and Astronomy, published by Princeton University Press. The monograph provides a hands-on introduction to machine learning and its applications to the physical sciences. 

Machine Learning for Physics and Astronomy covers the basics of building, diagnosing, optimizing, and deploying machine learning methods to solve research problems in physics and astronomy, with an emphasis on critical thinking and the scientific method. Using a hands-on approach to learning, Dr. Acquaviva draws on real-world, publicly available data as well as examples taken directly from the frontiers of research, from identifying galaxy morphology from images to identifying the signature of standard model particles in simulations at the Large Hadron Collider. 

"I am so glad to see this book finally published. I have been teaching a class on this topic at City Tech since 2018, and I started from scratch - we built this content, together with students and with the help of colleagues, bit by bit. I especially want to recognize the contribution of Dr. Ashwin Satyanarayana from the Computer Systems Technology Department. I hope this textbook and the supplementary materials can help students in formal programs and self-learners, as well as colleagues who are developing similar classes." 

Together with City Tech scholars Olga Privman (BS, Applied Computational Physics and BS, Professional and Technical Writing, Valedictorian of the Class of 2021-2022) and Jake Postiglione (BS, Applied Computational Physics 2022, recipient of the Daria Boduana Memorial Award for excellent promise in scholarship), and with the support of the Flatiron Institute, Acquaviva has developed a free introductory MOOC-style course in Machine Learning for Physics and Astronomy. Participants don't need a Physics background to learn. The course follows the book, features video lectures, Jupyter notebooks with video walk-throughs, review quizzes, and more.  

Earlier this year, Acquaviva was named one of the “Top 100 Technologists to Watch” by Women Who Code, an organization that strives to empower diverse women to excel in technology careers, which later also recognized her with the Mentoring Award. She has been widely recognized as a role model for women in science and is dedicated to supporting women and other underrepresented minorities pursuing careers in STEM fields. She has mentored over 25 undergraduate and graduate students, and helpedestablish a program that teaches mathematics to inmates in several correctional facilities in New Jersey. 

Acquaviva is the recipient of a PIVOT fellowship from the Simons Foundation to apply AI tools to problems in climate science and a Visiting Scholar of the Center for Computational Astrophysics at the Flatiron Institute. In 2021, she was named one of 13 "Tecnovisionarie" Italian Women in AI by Women & Tech. In 2020, Wired Italy listed her as one of 50 women who made (and do) the history of information technology, and in 2018, she was named one of Italy's 50 most influential Women in Tech by Inspiring Fifty.  
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