Ettore Fiorini

Ettore Fiorini
Born(1933-04-19)19 April 1933
Verona, Italy
Died9 April 2023(2023-04-09) (aged 89)
Milan, Italy
NationalityItalian
EducationUniversity of Milan
Known forExperimental particle physics
AwardsEnrico Fermi Prize (2007)
Bruno Pontecorvo Prize (2012)
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Milan
CERN
Duke University

Ettore Fiorini (19 April 1933 – 9 April 2023) was an Italian experimental particle physicist. He studied the physics of the weak interaction and was a pioneer in the field of double beta decay. He served as a professor of nuclear and subnuclear physics at the University of Milano-Bicocca.[1]

Early life

Fiorini was born on 19 April 1933 in Verona. His father was the eminent surgeon Enoch Fiorini.[2][3]

Career

Fiorini graduated in physics from the University of Milan in 1955. After working as a research associate at Duke University from 1959 to 1969, he returned to Milan for the remainder of his academic career, except for a spell in Geneva at CERN (1979–82). He carried out the bulk of his research in Italy at the underground laboratories of Mont Blanc and Gran Sasso.[4]

Scientific achievements

Fiorini had a longstanding research interest in weak interactions and related phenomena. In the 1970s he collaborated with André Lagarrigue to create the Gargamelle detector, a giant bubble chamber at CERN, and with Carlo Rubbia and Riccardo Giacconi on neutrino experiments that contributed to the discovery of weak neutral currents, thereby providing the first empirical test of the electroweak theory.[2][5]

Fiorini was a pioneering investigator of neutrinoless double beta decay. In the 1960s he proposed and performed the first study of neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) in 76Ge using germanium diodes.[6] In subsequent decades he was involved with two far larger collaborations at underground facility of the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso: the CUORICINO[7] and CUORE[8][9] studies of 130Te. The results of these experiments have relevance for the study of dark matter and solar axions.[2]

In the 1980s he directed the NUSEX (Nucleon Stability Experiment) investigation of proton decay located in the Mont Blanc underground laboratory. NUSEX helped determine the limits of proton stability, applying innovative methods to correct for the background effects of cosmic rays.[2]

Fiorini also collaborated on the GALLEX project at Gran Sasso that provided the first observations of low-energy neutrinos produced by the initial proton fusion step of the proton-proton chain reaction, confirming that this was the dominant fusion process occurring in the sun.[2][10]

His other research activities include the development of microbolometers for X-ray spectroscopy and high-precision measurements of the transition energies and lifetimes of nuclei, results which could help measure the mass of antineutrinos.[2]

Fiorini later conducted several archaeometric studies, using non-destructive techniques such as neutron activation analysis to discover the properties of historical materials. He proved, using samples of Napoleon's hair, that the former emperor did not die from arsenic poisoning.[11] Another project demonstrated the provenance of lead ingots from a Roman shipwreck — before repurposing them for the lining of the CUORE detector.[12][13][14]

Death

Fiorini died on 9 April 2023, at the age of 89.[15]

Awards

Fiorini received the 2007 Enrico Fermi Prize in recognition for his work on weak neutral currents and solar neutrinos.[16] For his work on neutrinoless double beta decay, he was awarded the 2012 Bruno Pontecorvo Prize.[17] He has been a corresponding member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei since 1988.

References

  1. ^ "FIORINI ETTORE". Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca (in Italian). 17 July 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Ettore Fiorini". Dzhelepov Laboratory of Nuclear Problems. 24 December 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  3. ^ "Enoch Fiorini". Accademia Roveretana degli Agiati (in Italian). Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  4. ^ "FIORINI, Ettore in 'Enciclopedia Italiana'". www.treccani.it (in Italian). Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  5. ^ Sapienza, University of Rome La; CERN., talked to Christine Sutton at (20 April 2014). "Neutral currents: A perfect experimental discovery – CERN Courier". CERN Courier – International Journal of High-Energy Physics. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  6. ^ Fiorini, E.; Pullia, A.; Bertolini, G.; Cappellani, F.; Restelli, G. (1967). "A search for lepton non-conservation in double beta decay with a germanium detector". Physics Letters B. 25 (10). Elsevier BV: 602–603. Bibcode:1967PhLB...25..602F. doi:10.1016/0370-2693(67)90127-x. ISSN 0370-2693.
  7. ^ Andriotti, E.; et al. (CUORICINO Collaboration) (2011). "130Te neutrinoless double-beta decay with CUORICINO". Astroparticle Physics. 34 (11): 822–831. arXiv:1012.3266. Bibcode:2011APh....34..822A. doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2011.02.002. S2CID 119185418.
  8. ^ Arnaboldi, C.; Artusa, D. R.; Avignone, F. T.; Balata, M.; Bandac, I.; Barucci, M.; Beeman, J. W.; Brofferio, C.; Bucci, C.; Capelli, S.; Carbone, L.; Cebrian, S.; Cremonesi, O.; Creswick, R. J.; de Waard, A.; Farach, H. A.; Fiorini, E.; Frossati, G.; Guardincerri, E.; Giuliani, A.; Gorla, P.; Haller, E. E.; McDonald, R. J.; Morales, A.; Norman, E. B.; Nucciotti, A.; Olivieri, E.; Pallavicini, M.; Palmieri, E.; Pasca, E.; Pavan, M.; Pedretti, M.; Pessina, G.; Pirro, S.; Previtali, E.; Risegari, L.; Rosenfeld, C.; Sangiorgio, S.; Sisti, M.; Smith, A. R.; Torres, L.; Ventura, G. (30 September 2005). "New Limit on the NeutrinolessββDecay ofTe130". Physical Review Letters. 95 (14): 142501. arXiv:hep-ex/0501034. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.95.142501. ISSN 0031-9007. PMID 16241648. S2CID 23395.
  9. ^ "Cuore". Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  10. ^ "Earlier Neutrino Physics Projects at MPIK". Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (in German). Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  11. ^ Highfield, Roger (11 February 2008). "Napoleon didn't die from arsenic poisoning". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  12. ^ Nosengo, Nicola (15 April 2010). "Roman ingots to shield particle detector". Nature. Springer Nature. doi:10.1038/news.2010.186. ISSN 1476-4687.
  13. ^ "Prof. Ettore Fiorini Delivers Second Enrico Fermi Lecture on Archaeometallurgy". The Cyprus Institute. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  14. ^ cossi (16 June 2015). "NOBEL INGOTS". Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  15. ^ E’ morto Ettore Fiorini, maestro degli studi sui neutrini (in Italian)
  16. ^ "Italian Physical Society "Enrico Fermi" Prize". Italian Physical Society. for his contribution to the discovery of weak neutral currents and to the study of solar neutrinos.
  17. ^ "Историческое место Европейского физического общества открыто в Дубне" [The historical site of the European Physical Society was opened in Dubna] (in Russian). 25 February 2013. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018. за выдающийся вклад в поиск безнейтринного двойного бета-распада (transl. for his outstanding contribution to the search for neutrinoless double beta decay)