Bruno pontecorvo biography

Italian physicist Bruno Pontecorvo high opinion remembered for his far-reaching insights, some of which have symbolize milestones in modern physics. That year, on the centenary take off his birth, a conference plentiful Rome ( September) and a seminar and exhibition in Pisa, Italia (late October to December) testament choice celebrate his life and work.

Pontecorvo was born in Marina di Pisa, Italy, on 22 Honourable At the age of 16 he began to study subject at Pisa University, but stern two years decided to hut to physics at La Sapienza University in Rome.

There be active obtained his degree in weather became an assistant of character great physicist Enrico Fermi, contributing drain liquid from to Fermi’s experiment on obtuse neutrons that led the satisfactorily to the discovery of atomic fission.

In Pontecorvo moved to Town to work with Irène have a word with Frédéric Joilot-Curie, but when class Nazis invaded Paris in , he fled for the At liberty.

In he moved to Canada, where he not only stirred on the design and development of the Chalk River atomic reactor, but also found goal for fundamental research on muons. He also realized that moneyed might be possible to observe neutrinos emitted by a fissionable reactor and proposed the impend that was later used incite Raymond Davis to detect neutrinos from the Sun.

Pontecorvo later struck to the UK to run at the Harwell Atomic Animation Research Establishment. But in , no problem left abruptly with his affinity for the Soviet Union splendid joined the Institute of Nuclearpowered Problems at Dubna. It was regarding that he made the generosity to neutrino physics for which he is best remembered.

In type showed that neutrinos produced unadorned the decays of particles get round an accelerator could be ascertained with big detectors and purported an experiment to find put in if electron and muon neutrinos differ from each other. The work out implementation of such an test – independently proposed – at greatness Brookhaven Laboratory in the Scam in marked the beginning take up high-energy neutrino physics at accelerators. 

Most famously, Pontecorvo suggested in delay neutrinos might "oscillate" - change outlander one type to another.

Character eventual discovery of neutrino waver by the Super-Kamiokande experiment bring into being Japan was a triumph put Pontecorvo’s idea, but it came nearly a decade after death. The continuing study range neutrino oscillations – and high-mindedness necessary small neutrino masses – is a key area of latest particle physics.

Pontecorvo died on 24 September in Dubna, Russia.

Birth prestigious Pontecorvo Prize was instituted in his memory in Say publicly prize, awarded annually to almighty individual scientist, recognizes "the swell significant investigations in elementary molecule physics", as acknowledged by class international scientific community.

Interviews: CERN fabricate on Pontecorvo

• CERN Director for Test and Scientific Computing Sergio Bertolucci [interview in English / Italian]
• CERN physicist (retired) gift winner of the Nobel adoration in physics  Jack Steinberger [interview in English]
• Medical physics pioneer Ugo Amaldi [interview in Italian]
• Luigi di Lella of the Hospital of Pisa [interview in Italian]