Daniele Battesimo Provenzano

About

I am a Ph.D. student at Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy, where I conduct theoretical research on plasmonics and anisotropic metamaterials. However, my true passion is teaching, which dates back to my bachelor's years. Since then, I have taught various courses aimed at talented high school students involved in the Physics Olympiad, as well as university freshmen. I also enjoy writing educational materials and articles that challenge misconceptions and debunk common myths found in traditional sources. I plan to write several textbooks on Classical Physics, one of which is already in progress. I aspire to become a lecturer and dedicate my life to Physics education.

If you want to know more about my background and past experiences, here is my short CV. If you would like to get in touch, you can reach me at daniele.provenzano@sns.it or via carrier pigeon.

Interests

Still in the pipeline, waiting for the plumber.

Since my master's studies, I have been particularly interested in macroscopic electrodynamics, with a focus on the propagation of electromagnetic waves in anisotropic media.
At the same time, having remained closely connected to the world of the Physics Olympiads—which I attended during high school—I began teaching in three schools dedicated to talented students, preparing them for national and international competitions (IPhO and EuPhO). Over six years of teaching, and through my involvement as a member of the organizing committee of both the Italian Physics Olympiad and the Physics Team Competition, I developed a strong passion for creating original educational materials. The need to design new problems for competitions eventually led several of them to evolve into the foundations for scientific articles. Currently, I am working on several projects in two fields that I particularly love: celestial mechanics and fluid dynamics. For example, in addition to my Ph.D. research, I am currently pursuing a study on the deflation of soap bubbles, which served as the theoretical basis for the experimental examination of the 2025 Italian Physics Olympiad.
Through teaching, I was able to address several theoretical gaps accumulated over time, and I also developed a strong appreciation for the experimental aspects of physics. I am committed to continuing in this field, with the aim of promoting my vision of physics education both by teaching and by authoring textbooks.

Teaching

During my years as a university student and Ph.D. candidate, I developed a deep passion for teaching physics. I began teaching immediately after earning my bachelor's degree, and it has since become an indispensable part of my life. I take inspiration from influential educators such as David Morin, Kirk McDonald, Nicholas Wheeler, Michael Spivak and Giuseppe la Rocca, my professor at SNS. As for problem-solving, I have to bow to the Hungarian professors of the Roland Eötvös Physical Society, who have been producing an astonishing number of original problems and organizing countless physics competitions for decades. They, too, are a great source of inspiration for me!

Here, you can find a collection of notes and exercises I have written over the past six years.

Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS)

“Physics School in Pisa”

Below are the lecture notes I wrote in seven years - I am especially proud of the last two. I plan to translate them into English.

Fluid Mechanics - 2019 (ITA) / ENG
Celestial Mechanics - 2020 (ITA) / ENG
Celestial Mechanics - 2021 (ITA) / ENG
Modern Physics - 2022 (ITA) / ENG
Fluid Mechanics - 2023 (ITA) / ENG
Problem-Solving Techniques - 2024 (ITA) / ENG → Improved version (ITA)
Analogies in Classical Physics - 2025 (ITA) / ENG

University Orientation Courses (June - July 2024)

These are slides I prepared for three university orientation courses organized by SNS, aimed at 260 handpicked high school students in their final years. The lessons focused on simple problem-solving techniques and everyday situations. Slides (ITA) / Slides (ENG)

Classical Mechanics and Thermodynamics
From fall 2020 to spring 2021, I served as a teaching assistant for the Classical Mechanics and Thermodynamics course at SNS, aimed at Physics and Mathematics freshmen. I have collected the most intriguing and noteworthy problems here, some of which were specifically created for the course. The most interesting ones are not included, as they are yet to be developed into articles.

Italian Association for the Teaching of Physics (AIF)

“One step away from IPhO”

This one-week course, also known as Pre-IPhO, is the final challenge for Italian students aiming to qualify for international competitions. After several days of theoretical and experimental training, the winners of the national competition face a final exam to select the two Italian teams taking part in IPhO and EuPhO. Although the exam problems will never be published, my handouts from recent years will be provided below.

Celestial Mechanics (ITA) / ENG
Electromagnetism (ITA) / ENG
Thermodynamics (ITA) / ENG
Miscellanea (ITA) / ENG

Physics Olympiad Summer School

Here is an updated version of the handouts I prepared for the physics school held in Sigillo, aimed at young high school students interested in the Physics Olympiad.

Estimation Problems (2024) ITA / ENG
Dimensional Analysis (2024) ITA / ENG
Orbital Mechanics (2019) ITA / ENG

Scuola Superiore di Catania (SSC)

Training Camp for the Physics Olympiad

Below are the handouts I wrote for the physics school organized by SSC. I plan to translate them into English.

Electrostatics (2023) ITA / ENG
Problem Solving (2024) ITA / ENG → Improved version (ITA)
Fluid Dynamics (2025) ITA / ENG

Here are the final exams from recent years.

Projects

Here are some projects related to Physics education - all the blue links redirect to Italian websites.

When it comes to collective initiatives, I am especially grateful to my peers, Fabio Zoratti and Giovanni Maria Tomaselli. Fabio is an outstanding leader, while Gimmy is simply the best (young) physicist I know. They not only gave me the opportunity to participate in these projects but also taught me so much!

“Problem-Solving Techniques in Physics, with Original Problems and Debunked Myths”

In my free time, I am writing a textbook on problem-solving techniques, aimed at students taking part in Physics Olympiads and university freshmen. It will be specifically designed to debunk some common myths and correct many misconceptions often found in traditional teaching and textbooks. So far, I have written about 200 pages. I plan to finish by 2027.

Italian Physics Olympiad

The Italian Physics Olympiad has been organized since 1987 by the Italian Association for the Teaching of Physics (AIF). Each year, two teams composed of the best Italian students are trained in preparation for the IPhO and EuPhO. In 2019, I joined the training courses organized by AIF as a trainer. After five years of collaboration, I earned a position on the national committee that organizes the Olympiad. Our main tasks include designing theoretical and experimental problems for the various stages of the competition, evaluating contestants and coaching the two teams for the international competitions. Each year, roughly 30.000 high school students from all corners of Italy take part in the competition. The national finals take place in April in Senigallia, where there is also time to humiliate young contestants at beach soccer.

Physics School in Pisa

Since 2018, a dedicated group of physics students from Scuola Normale Superiore has been organizing an annual one-week physics school for 24 handpicked Italian high school students. The aim is to prepare them for the Physics Olympiad while providing an introduction to bachelor studies, both in the classroom and the laboratory. Lecture notes and recordings are available on the website, in Italian. In 2019, the project received the prize "Didactics of Physics", presented annually by the Italian Society of Physics. This project has been extremely important to me, as I met many people I care about.

Training Camp for the Physics Olympiad

Since 2019, students from the Scuola Superiore di Catania, a center of excellence at the University of Catania, have been organizing a physics training camp for students from southern Italy who qualify for the national phase of the Physics Olympiad. The camp features theoretical lessons, problem-solving sessions, hands-on experiments, and a final competition. I joined the organizing team in 2023, forging great friendships with the young physicists from Catania.

Team Physics Competition

In 2023, after four years of preparation, my university colleagues and I gave birth to the first-ever Physics Team Competition, an annual event consisting of several stages held all across Italy and aimed at high school students. Every year, approximately 600 teams from all corners of Italy participate in the competition. The top 20 teams receive an invitation to the national finals, where the competition unfolds in person, resembling a sporting event. Here is the time-lapse of the 2024 final, can you spot the Easter egg?

Here is a funny problem I created for the 2025 contest: "Captain Hector Barbossa has a special spyglass made up of two thin converging lenses aligned along the same axis. The peculiarity of his instrument is that the magnification does not depend on the distance from the observed object. If the two lenses are separated by 11 cm and the focal length of the lens closest to the eyes is 1.8 cm, what is the angular magnification of the spyglass?"

Suggestions

Still in the pipeline, waiting for the plumber.

Physics Olympiad and other competitions

Competing after High School

The Art of Problem-Crafting

Undergraduate Recommendations

My favourite Physics articles

Here are some of the articles I am most fond of. They hold great pedagogical value.

“And now for something completely different”

Me and my sister grew up in the countryside, surrounded by goats, pigs, chickens and rabbits. My maternal grandparents were farmers and, during elementary and middle school, I loved helping them in their vegetable garden, while my sister used to take care of bunnies and kittens (she is now a vet). My relatives taught me how to work the ground, harvest crops, and, most importantly, make do. I never learned to drive the tractor, but I loved riding pigs! Here is my 3-and-a-half-year-old self, grooming his humble steed, preparing it for battle against the monsters of his imagination. Back then, I had much more hair than I do now 😱.

After building a treehouse and endless wooden soccer goals with my friends, I became interested in DIY. Now, besides gardening, climbing trees and chopping wood, I really enjoy tackling household issues, especially plumbing problems. In 2023, I almost got electrocuted after successfully fixing the motor of the washing machine. These are the risks of the trade!
I was raised on Fantozzi films and Bud Spencer & Terence Hill movies, but my childhood hero was Nick "fucking" Cage. Over time, my tastes have changed. For the past few years, I’ve become a huge fan of Hitchcock’s works, and I've identified with some characters in Terry Gilliam's films. Here are my favorite movies, more or less in order.

During university, I developed interests beyond Physics and teaching. Inspired by Monty Python's cheerful insanity, I discovered a passion for creating and editing absurd short films. You can find a couple on my YouTube channel. I have many more ideas that never came to life—the main challenge being that my friends are not willing to act!

During the pandemic, I discovered the fascinating world of Progressive Rock. Since then, I have become a huge admirer of bands like Yes, Caravan, King Crimson, early Genesis, RTF and VDGG. I enjoy playing their songs on the bass guitar, even though some are still too challenging. Here’s a list of my favorite music albums (not just prog), roughly in order.
When it comes to sports, my choices are quite ordinary. I regularly go for runs and play soccer quite often, even as a goalkeeper. I learned to play with my neighborhood friends during my adolescence, on a dirt field we maintained ourselves. Some of us (including me) ended up in the hospital a couple of times, with broken arms and scalp injuries. Each time, our lovely moms were furious and ready to give us a piece of their mind. A few years later, watching snooker on TV sparked my interest in the world of billiards: I love playing 8-ball and 9-ball, but I still haven’t mastered sidespin. I think I'll never do!