Carlo Rubbia
Gorizia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy | |
---|---|
Alma mater | Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa |
Known for | Discovery of W and Z bosons |
Awards |
|
Scientific career | |
Fields | Particle physics |
Institutions | |
Member of the Senate of the Republic | |
Life tenure 30 August 2013 | |
Appointed by | Giorgio Napolitano |
Website | Website |
Carlo Rubbia
Early life and education
Rubbia was born in 1934 in Gorizia, an Italian town on the border with Slovenia. His family moved to Venice then Udine because of wartime disruption. His father was an electrical engineer and encouraged him to study the same, though he stated his wish to study physics. In the local countryside, he collected and experimented with abandoned military communications equipment. After taking an entrance exam for the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa to study physics, he failed to get into the required top ten (coming eleventh), so began an engineering course in Milan in 1953. Soon after, a Pisa student dropped out, presenting Rubbia with his opportunity. He gained a degree and doctorate in a relatively short time with a thesis on cosmic ray experimentation; his adviser was Marcello Conversi. At Pisa, he met his future wife, Marisa, also a Physics student.[9][10] [11][12][13]
Career and research
Columbia University
Following his degree, he went to the United States to do
CERN
He moved back to Europe for a placement at the University of Rome before joining the newly founded CERN in 1960, where he worked on experiments on the structure of weak interactions. CERN had just commissioned a new type of accelerator, the Intersecting Storage Rings, using counter-rotating beams of protons colliding against each other. Rubbia and his collaborators conducted experiments there, again studying the weak force. The main results in this field were the observation of the structure in the elastic scattering process and the first observation of the charmed baryons. These experiments were crucial in order to perfect the techniques needed later for the discovery of more exotic particles in a different type of particle collider.[9][11][13]
In 1976, he suggested adapting CERN's
To achieve energies high enough to create these particles, Rubbia, together with David Cline and Peter McIntyre, proposed a radically new particle accelerator design. They proposed to use a beam of
Harvard University
In 1970, Rubbia was appointed Higgins Professor of Physics at Harvard University, where he spent one semester per year for 18 years,[1] while continuing his research activities at CERN. In 1989, he was appointed Director-General of the CERN Laboratory.[15] During his mandate, in 1993, "CERN agreed to allow anybody to use the Web protocol and code free of charge … without any royalty or other constraint".[16]
Gran Sasso Laboratory
Rubbia has also been one of the leaders in a collaboration effort deep in the
Rubbia further proposed the concept of an energy amplifier, a novel and safe way of producing nuclear energy exploiting present-day accelerator technologies, which is actively being studied worldwide in order to incinerate high activity waste from nuclear reactors, and produce energy from natural thorium and depleted uranium. In 2013 he proposed building a large number of small-scale thorium power plants.[17]
Other organisational affiliations
Rubbia was principal Scientific Adviser of
Personal life
Marisa and Carlo Rubbia have two children.[9]
Awards and honors
In December 1984, Rubbia was nominated Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI.[18]
On 30 August 2013, Rubbia was appointed to the
Asteroid
In 1984, Rubbia received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.[21]
References
- ^ a b c d Carlo Rubbia on Nobelprize.org , accessed 27 April 2020
- ^ Darriulat, Pierre (9 March 2024). "The W and Z particles: a personal recollection". CERN Courier. 44 (3): 13–16.
- ^ "CERN honours Carlo Rubbia as he turns 75". CERN Courier. 49 (5): 27. June 2009.
- ^ Catapano, Paola (September 2014). "Carlo Rubbia: a passion for physics and a craving for new ideas". CERN Courier.
- ^ "Nobel prize press release about Rubbia".
- ^ "Article on Carlo Rubbia from Encyclopædia Britannica".
- ^ Carlo Rubbia's biography and lectures on the website of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
- ^ Scientific publications of Carlo Rubbia on INSPIRE-HEP
- ^ a b c Gary Taubes (1984). "Scientist of the Year: Carlo Rubbia: the Lord of the Atom-Smashers" (PDF). Discover. p. 39. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ Susan Biggin (1 May 1997). "Personalities: Personalities/Careers: What Carlo Did Next". physicsworld.com. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ a b Paolo Capatano (23 September 2014). "Carlo Rubbia: a passion for physics and a craving for new ideas". CERN Courier. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ "Prof. Dr. Carlo Rubbia". www.mediatheque.lindau-nobel.org. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ a b Bayard Webster (18 October 1984). "MAN IN THE NEWS; 3 SCIENTISTS NAMED AS THE 1984 NOBEL LAUREATES IN CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS". New York times. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ "Columbia Nobels". Columbia University. Archived from the original on 24 June 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
- ^ "Looking to the future". CERN Courier. CERN. 9 March 1988. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
- ^ Berners-Lee, T., Fischetti, M., & Foreword By-Dertouzos, M. L. (2000). Weaving the Web: The original design and ultimate destiny of the World Wide Web by its inventor. HarperInformation.
- ^ Boyle, Rebecca (30 August 2010). "Development of Tiny Thorium Reactors Could Wean the World Off Oil in Just Five Years | Popular Science". Popsci.com. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
- ^ Di Laura Laurenzi (19 December 1984). "Pertini Festeggia Rubbia – La Repubblica" (in Italian). Ricerca.repubblica.it. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
- ^ "Carlo Rubbia appointed senator for life". CERN Courier. CERN. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
- ^ "Professor Carlo Rubbia ForMemRS". London: Royal Society. Archived from the original on 6 November 2015.
- American Academy of Achievement.
External links
- Carlo Rubbia on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel Lecture, 8 December 1984 Experimental Observation of the Intermediate Vector Bosons W+, W− and Z0
- Carlo Rubbia on INSPIRE-HEP