Sookyung Choi

SooKyung Choi
Alma materKyungpook National University
Known forCP Violation
Particle physics
Awards2017 Ho-Am Prize in Science
Scientific career
InstitutionsGyeongsang National University
Seoul National University

SooKyung Choi is a South Korean particle physicist at Gyeongsang National University. She is part of the Belle experiment and was the first to observe the X(3872) meson in 2003. She won the 2017 Ho-Am Prize in Science.

Early life and education

Choi studied physics at the Kyungpook National University, graduating in 1979 with a Bachelor's degree and 1993 with a PhD. Her supervisors were Dongchul Son and C. Joo.[1] After graduating, Choi joined Seoul National University, working on Møller and Bhabha scattering.[2] She was appointed Professor at Gyeongsang National University, where she worked with the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK).[3]

Career

Choi's work mainly concerns CP violation and decays of the B meson.[4] Choi worked on the Belle experiment, where she identified several new types of fundamental particles. The first results from Belle came in 2002, finding large cross-sections for the e+e−continuum.[5][6] In 2003 she discovered the X(3872) meson; a new kind of heavy particle, which does not fit the quantum model as it was made up of four quarks.[3] Choi predicted the X(3872) particle could be a charmonium state or a DD* hadronic molecule. The work was confirmed by a team at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.[7] Choi went on to discover the Y(3940), the Zc(3900) and Z(4430) particles, which proved that particles can exist in a range of forms.[8] Choi studied the decays of these extensively.[9][10][11]

She was involved with the study of other charmonium states; using the ϒ(4S) and ϒ(5S) resonances at the Belle detector.[12][13] Choi has collaborated with the BES III experiment, which studied center of mass energies between 2.9 and 4.42 GeV. The BES III experiment identified new charmonium states with non-zero electric charge.[14]

CP violation was first confirmed at the Belle experiment and would go on to win the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics.[15][16][17][18][19][20] The experiments stopped operation in June 2010.[21] Choi is part of the Belle II experiment, which collected their first collisions in 2018.[22] She served on the advisory board of the International Conference on High Energy Physics in Seoul in July 2018.[23]

In 2017 Choi won the Ho-Am Prize in Science.[24][25][26][27]

References

  1. ^ "KNU graduate Prof. Sookyung Choi wins the 2017 Hoam Prize". KNU. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  2. ^ Choi, Soo Kyung; Kim, Jihn E.; Lee, Taeyeon; Song, H. S. (1984-05-01). "Polarization of recoil-electron beam in high-energy M\o{}ller and Bhabha scattering". Physical Review D. 29 (9): 1909–1917. Bibcode:1984PhRvD..29.1909C. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.29.1909.
  3. ^ a b "Unusual Subatomic Particle Discovered". www.vtnews.vt.edu. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  4. ^ Abe, K.; et al. (Belle Collaboration) (2001-08-14). "Observation of Large $\mathit{CP}$ Violation in the Neutral $\mathit{B}$ Meson System". Physical Review Letters. 87 (9): 091802. arXiv:hep-ex/0107061. Bibcode:2001PhRvL..87i1802A. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.091802. PMID 11531561. S2CID 3197654.
  5. ^ Abe, K.; et al. (Belle Collaboration) (2002-09-16). "Observation of Double $c\overline{c}$ Production in ${e}^{+}{e}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ Annihilation at $\sqrt{s}\ensuremath{\approx}10.6\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{G}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}$". Physical Review Letters. 89 (14): 142001. arXiv:hep-ex/0205104. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.142001. PMID 12366036.
  6. ^ "Double ccbar Production at Belle" (PDF). www.qwg.to.infn.it. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  7. ^ "Scientists find mystery particle". 2003-11-18. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  8. ^ "YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  9. ^ Choi, S.-K.; et al. (Belle Collaboration) (2003-12-23). "Observation of a narrow charmonium-like state in exclusive B+ -> K+ pi+pi- J/psi decays". Physical Review Letters. 91 (26): 262001. arXiv:hep-ex/0309032. Bibcode:2003PhRvL..91z2001C. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.262001. ISSN 0031-9007. PMID 14754041. S2CID 1017547.
  10. ^ Choi, S.-K.; et al. (Belle Collaboration) (2005-05-01). "Observation of a Near-Threshold ωJ/ψ Mass Enhancement in Exclusive B→KωJ/ψ Decays". Physical Review Letters. 94 (18): 182002. arXiv:hep-ex/0408126. Bibcode:2005PhRvL..94r2002C. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.182002. ISSN 0031-9007. PMID 15904362. S2CID 2307199.
  11. ^ Choi, S.-K.; et al. (Belle Collaboration) (2008-04-08). "Observation of a Resonancelike Structure in the π+−ψ′ Mass Distribution in Exclusive B→Kπ+−ψ′ Decays". Physical Review Letters. 100 (14): 142001. arXiv:0708.1790. Bibcode:2008PhRvL.100n2001C. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.142001. PMID 18518023. S2CID 119138620.
  12. ^ CHOI, Sookyung (2010-06-07). "Charmonium-like particles at Belle". Proceedings of European Physical Society Europhysics Conference on High Energy Physics — PoS(EPS-HEP 2009). p. 053. doi:10.22323/1.084.0053.
  13. ^ Choi, Sookyung (2011-01-29). "Spectroscopy results from Belle". arXiv:1101.5691 [hep-ex].
  14. ^ Sookyung, Choi (2014-03-07). Hadron and Quarkmonium Exotica. OCLC 878584784.
  15. ^ "Physics Nobel for matter-antimatter difference and symmetry breaking". symmetry magazine. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  16. ^ Brumfiel, Geoff (2008-10-07). "Nobel Prize in Physics for symmetry breakdown". Nature. doi:10.1038/news.2008.1155. ISSN 0028-0836.
  17. ^ "CP Violation in B Decays: Measuring sin(2beta)". www-public.slac.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  18. ^ Libby, Jim (2014-12-13). "Direct CP violation in hadronic B decays". arXiv:1412.4269 [hep-ex].
  19. ^ TAKASAKI, Fumihiko (2012-07-25). "The discovery of CP violation in B-meson decays". Proceedings of the Japan Academy. Series B, Physical and Biological Sciences. 88 (7): 283–298. Bibcode:2012PJAB...88..283T. doi:10.2183/pjab.88.283. ISSN 0386-2208. PMC 3422684. PMID 22850723.
  20. ^ Levy, S. (2004-06-16). "Observation of CP Violation in the Neutral B Meson System" (PDF). doi:10.2172/826982. OSTI 826982. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. ^ Sahoo, H.; et al. (Belle Collaboration) (2011-09-22). "Measurements of CP Violation in B Meson decays at Belle". arXiv:1109.4780 [hep-ex].
  22. ^ Kou, E.; Urquijo, P.; et al. (Belle Collaboration) (2019). "The Belle II Physics Book". Progress of Theoretical and Experimental Physics. 2019 (12). arXiv:1808.10567. doi:10.1093/ptep/ptz106.
  23. ^ "ICHEP2018 SEOUL". www.ichep2018.org. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  24. ^ "Prize winners-By years - THE HO-AM PRIZE". Samsung Foundation. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  25. ^ "Samsung family skips annual Ho Am award event". www.theinvestor.co.kr. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  26. ^ "BELLE HOME PAGE". belle.kek.jp. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  27. ^ "7 Award-Winning Female Scientists". Asian Scientist Magazine | Science, technology and medical news updates from Asia. 2018-02-09. Retrieved 2019-01-14.