Maria Cristina Volpe is an astrophysicist specializing in the theory and phenomenology of cosmological neutrinos, including neutrinos from supernovae, the mass of neutrinos, and neutrino oscillation. She has also been involved in research on ground-based facilities for neutrino production via beta decay, producing so-called "beta beams". She is a director of research for the French National Centre for Scientific Research.
After work at the University of Milan in Italy and Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark, Volpe became a doctoral student at the Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds and University of Caen Normandy in France, [1] where she earned a Ph.D. in 1997 with the dissertation Etude des comportements anharmoniques et non-lineaires des vibrations des noyaux atomiques [Study of anharmonic and non-linear behaviours of vibrations of atomic nuclei], directed by Philippe Chomaz . [1] [2]
After research at the Institut de physique nucléaire d'Orsay (IPN), supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Italian Fondazione Angelo Della Riccia, she became a permanent researcher for the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in 1998. She completed a habilitation in 2003 through Paris-Sud University, became a director of research for the CNRS in 2011, and was promoted to director of research 1st class in 2016. Initially affiliated with IPN, she moved to the Astroparticle and Cosmology Laboratory in 2012. [1]
Volpe was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) in 2011, after a nomination from the APS Division of Nuclear Physics, "for her work on neutrino-nucleus interactions and understanding the role of neutrinos in astrophysical sites, and for her suggestion of building a source of low-energy beta beams using the beta decay of radioactive nuclei". [3]
In nuclear physics, beta decay (β-decay) is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits a beta particle, transforming into an isobar of that nuclide. For example, beta decay of a neutron transforms it into a proton by the emission of an electron accompanied by an antineutrino; or, conversely a proton is converted into a neutron by the emission of a positron with a neutrino in what is called positron emission. Neither the beta particle nor its associated (anti-)neutrino exist within the nucleus prior to beta decay, but are created in the decay process. By this process, unstable atoms obtain a more stable ratio of protons to neutrons. The probability of a nuclide decaying due to beta and other forms of decay is determined by its nuclear binding energy. The binding energies of all existing nuclides form what is called the nuclear band or valley of stability. For either electron or positron emission to be energetically possible, the energy release or Q value must be positive.
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter.
A neutrino is an elementary particle that interacts via the weak interaction and gravity. The neutrino is so named because it is electrically neutral and because its rest mass is so small (-ino) that it was long thought to be zero. The rest mass of the neutrino is much smaller than that of the other known elementary particles. The weak force has a very short range, the gravitational interaction is extremely weak due to the very small mass of the neutrino, and neutrinos do not participate in the electromagnetic interaction or the strong interaction. Thus, neutrinos typically pass through normal matter unimpeded and undetected.
In nuclear physics, double beta decay is a type of radioactive decay in which two neutrons are simultaneously transformed into two protons, or vice versa, inside an atomic nucleus. As in single beta decay, this process allows the atom to move closer to the optimal ratio of protons and neutrons. As a result of this transformation, the nucleus emits two detectable beta particles, which are electrons or positrons.
Germanium (32Ge) has five naturally occurring isotopes, 70Ge, 72Ge, 73Ge, 74Ge, and 76Ge. Of these, 76Ge is very slightly radioactive, decaying by double beta decay with a half-life of 1.78 × 1021 years (130 billion times the age of the universe).
In spectroscopy, a forbidden mechanism is a spectral line associated with absorption or emission of photons by atomic nuclei, atoms, or molecules which undergo a transition that is not allowed by a particular selection rule but is allowed if the approximation associated with that rule is not made. For example, in a situation where, according to usual approximations, the process cannot happen, but at a higher level of approximation the process is allowed but at a low rate.
Françoise Combes is a French astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory and a professor at the Collège de France where she has been the chair of Galaxies and cosmology since 2014.
p-nuclei (p stands for proton-rich) are certain proton-rich, naturally occurring isotopes of some elements between selenium and mercury inclusive which cannot be produced in either the s- or the r-process.
Gail Catherine McLaughlin is an American nuclear astrophysicist specializing in astrophysical neutrinos and the r-process for nucleosynthesis. She is Distinguished University Professor of Physics at North Carolina State University.
The MAJORANA project is an international effort to search for neutrinoless double-beta (0νββ) decay in 76Ge. The project builds upon the work of previous experiments, notably those performed by the Heidelberg–Moscow and IGEX collaborations, which used high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors, to study neutrinoless double-beta decay.
Peter Minkowski is a Swiss theoretical physicist. He is primarily known for his proposal, with Harald Fritzsch, of SO(10) as the group of a grand unified theory and for his independent proposal, more-or-less simultaneously with a number of other theorists, of the seesaw mechanism for the generation of neutrino masses.
Magda Galula Ericson (born 1929) is a French-Algerian physicist of Tunisian origin. Her experimental pioneering PhD work changed the understanding of critical phenomena near the Curie point and later in her career she has become known for her theoretical development of the Ericson-Ericson Lorentz-Lorenz correction.
Toshiko Yuasa was a Japanese nuclear physicist who worked in France. She was the first Japanese female physicist.
Marielle Chartier is a Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Liverpool in England. Her research investigates the phase diagram of nuclear matter using the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN Her past work includes nuclear structure at the frontiers of the valley of stability.
Hélène Bouchiat is a French condensed matter physicist specializing in mesoscopic physics and nanoscience. She is a director of research in the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), associated with the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides at Paris-Sud University. Topics in her research include supercurrents, persistent currents, graphene, carbon nanotubes, and bismuth-based topological insulators.
Natalie Ann Roe is an experimental particle physicist and observational cosmologist, and the Associate Laboratory Director for the Physical Sciences Area at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) since 2020. Previously, she was the Physics Division Director for eight years. She has been awarded as the Fellow of American Physical Society (APS) and American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for her exceptional scientific career and contributions.
The prix Jaffé is a prize of the Institut de France awarded by nomination of the French Academy of Sciences. The award is financially supported by the Jaffé foundation of the institute.
Carla Fröhlich is a Swiss and American nuclear astrophysicist whose research has included the neutrino p-process for nucleosynthesis in supernovae, and the study of multi-messenger astronomy. She is a professor of physics and University Faculty Scholar at North Carolina State University.
Faïrouz Malek also known as Faïrouz Ohlsson-Malek is a French and Algerian physicist specializing in nuclear physics, particle physics and cosmology. A research scientist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, she is involved in international research at the CERN LHC. She has contributed to the discovery of the Higgs boson. She is also known for her commitment to gender parity in science, as well as to the development of science in Africa. She is fellow of the African Academy of Sciences. She is the niece of Algerian composer Ahmed Malek.
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