Maria Cristina Volpe is an astrophysicist specializing in the theory and

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (Peirce), a branch of philosophy according to Charles Sanders Peirce (1839� ...

of cosmological

neutrino A neutrino ( ; denoted by the Greek letter ) 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 i ...

s, including neutrinos from

supernova A supernova (: supernovae or supernovas) is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. A supernova occurs during the last stellar evolution, evolutionary stages of a massive star, or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion ...

e, the mass of neutrinos, and

neutrino oscillation Neutrino oscillation is a quantum mechanics, quantum mechanical phenomenon in which a neutrino created with a specific lepton lepton number, family number ("lepton flavor": electron, muon, or tau lepton, tau) can later be Quantum measurement, mea ...

. She has also been involved in research on ground-based facilities for neutrino production via

beta decay In nuclear physics, beta decay (β-decay) is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits a beta particle (fast energetic electron or positron), transforming into an isobar of that nuclide. For example, beta decay of a neutron ...

, producing so-called "beta beams". She is a director of research for the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engi ...

Education and career

After work at the

University of Milan The University of Milan (; ), officially abbreviated as UNIMI, or colloquially referred to as La Statale ("the State niversity), is a public university, public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Eu ...

in Italy and

Niels Bohr Institute The Niels Bohr Institute () is a research institute of the University of Copenhagen. The research of the institute spans astronomy, geophysics, nanotechnology, particle physics, quantum mechanics, and biophysics. Overview The institute was foun ...

in Denmark, Volpe became a doctoral student at the

Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds The Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds (GANIL), or Large Heavy Ion National Accelerator, is a French national nuclear physics research center in Caen. The facility has been in operation since 1983 and consists primarily of two serialised ...

and

University of Caen Normandy The University of Caen Normandy (French: ''Université de Caen Normandie''), also known as Unicaen, is a public university in Caen, France. History The institution was founded in 1432 by John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, the first rector ...

in France, 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 . After research at the (IPN), supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Italian Fondazione Angelo Della Riccia, she became a permanent researcher for the

(CNRS) in 1998. She completed a

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

in 2003 through

Paris-Sud University Paris-Sud University (), also known as the University of Paris — XI (or as the Orsay Faculty of Sciences, University of Paris before 1971), was a French research university distributed among several campuses in the southern suburbs of Paris, ...

, 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 The Astroparticle and Cosmology (APC) laboratory in Paris gathers researchers (experimentalists, theorists and observers) working in different areas including high-energy astrophysics, cosmology, gravitation, and neutrino physics. The institute ...

in 2012.

Recognition

Volpe was named a

Fellow of the American Physical Society The American Physical Society honors members with the designation ''Fellow'' for having made significant accomplishments to the field of physics. The following lists are divided chronologically by the year of designation. * List of fellows of the ...

(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".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Volpe, Cristina Year of birth missing (living people) Living people French astrophysicists French women astrophysicists Neutrino physicists University of Caen Normandy alumni Fellows of the American Physical Society Research directors of the French National Centre for Scientific Research