Irene Tamborra is an Italian particle astrophysicist, specializing in the areas of

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 ...

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

and

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...

as well as

multi-messenger astronomy Multi-messenger astronomy is the coordinated observation and interpretation of multiple signals received from the same astronomical event. Many types of cosmological events involve complex interactions between a variety of astrophysical processes, ...

. She is professor of particle astrophysics at the

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 ...

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

Education and career

Irene Tamborra studied physics at the

University of Bari The University of Bari Aldo Moro () is a public higher education institution founded in 1925 in Bari, Apulia, in Southern Italy. The university has a student population of around 40,000. A recent name change refers to the statesman and prime mi ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, earning a Bachelor's of Science in physics in 2005 and a Master of Science in theoretical physics in 2007. She graduated from the

in 2011 with a Ph.D. thesis in astroparticle physics. She was an

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation () is a foundation that promotes international academic cooperation between scientists and scholars from Germany and abroad. Established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, it is funded by t ...

research fellow at the

Max Planck Institute for Physics The Max Planck Institute for Physics (MPP) is a research institute located in Garching, near Munich, Germany. It specializes in high energy physics and astroparticle physics. The MPP is part of the Max Planck Society and is also known as the We ...

in Munich from 2011 to 2013, and research associate at the GRAPPA Centre of Excellence of the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

from 2013 to 2015. She joined the

as Knud Højgaard's assistant professor in 2016, and was then promoted to associate professor in 2017 and to full professor in 2021. Since 2017, she has been a Mercator Fellow at the

and

Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics The Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) is a research institute located in Garching, just north of Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is one of many scientific research institutes belonging to the Max Planck Society. The MPA is widely consid ...

Research

Irene Tamborra’s research is at the interface between

and

particle physics Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the s ...

. She has proposed a number of ideas concerning the exploration of astrophysical objects using

neutrinos 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 it ...

photons A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless particles that ...

, and

gravitational wave Gravitational waves are oscillations of the gravitational field that Wave propagation, travel through space at the speed of light; they are generated by the relative motion of gravity, gravitating masses. They were proposed by Oliver Heaviside i ...

s. Irene Tamborra's work connects the physics happening on microscopic scales in astrophysical sources to multi-messenger observations. Irene Tamborra has also provided fundamental contributions to scientists' understanding of neutrino flavor conversion in dense media (such as core-collapse

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

neutron star merger A neutron star merger is the stellar collision of neutron stars. When two neutron stars fall into mutual orbit, they gradually inspiral, spiral inward due to the loss of energy emitted as gravitational radiation. When they finally meet, their me ...

, and the early universe), physics beyond the

Standard Model The Standard Model of particle physics is the Scientific theory, theory describing three of the four known fundamental forces (electromagnetism, electromagnetic, weak interaction, weak and strong interactions – excluding gravity) in the unive ...

in astrophysical sources, and the

nucleosynthesis Nucleosynthesis is the process that creates new atomic nuclei from pre-existing nucleons (protons and neutrons) and nuclei. According to current theories, the first nuclei were formed a few minutes after the Big Bang, through nuclear reactions in ...

of the heavy elements. She discovered the lepton emission self-sustained asymmetry (LESA). LESA is the first hydrodynamical instability occurring in core-collapse supernovae completely driven by neutrinos, and it consists of an astonishingly large asymmetric emission of

electron neutrino The electron neutrino () is an elementary particle which has zero electric charge and a spin of . Together with the electron, it forms the first generation of leptons, hence the name ''electron neutrino''. It was first hypothesized by Wolfga ...

s with respect to electron antineutrinos.

Awards

* 2024:

EliteForsk Prize The EliteForsk Prize (Elite Research Prize) is the most prestigious award given by the Danish Council for Independent Research, of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education (Denmark), Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science. ...

Ministry of Higher Education and Science (Denmark) The Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science () is the Danish ministry in charge of research and education above high school/upper secondary school. The ministry has also been known as the "Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Educa ...

* 2022: ERC Consolidator Award,

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

* 2020: Kvinder i Fisik Prize, Danish Network for Women in Physics * 2019: Shakti P. Duggal Award,

International Union of Pure and Applied Physics The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP; ) is an international non-governmental organization whose mission is to assist in the worldwide development of physics, to foster international cooperation in physics, and to help in the ...

* 2019: Merac Prize for the Best Early Career Researcher,

European Astronomical Society The European Astronomical Society (EAS) is a learned society, founded under the Swiss Civil Code in 1990, as an association to contribute and promote the advancement of astronomy in Europe, and to deal with astronomical matters at a European lev ...

* 2019: Carlsberg Distinguished Associate Professor,

Carlsberg Foundation Carlsberg Foundation () is a not-for-profit organization that was founded by J. C. Jacobsen in 1876, by allocating some of his shares in the Carlsberg Brewery to fund and operate the Carlsberg Laboratory and the Museum of National History at ...

* 2011: von Humboldt Fellow,

* 2009: Antonio Stanghellini Award,

Italian Physical Society The Italian Physical Society () is a non-profit organization whose aim is to promote, encourage, protect the study and the progress of physics in Italy and in the world. It was founded in 1897. It is associated with the journal series ''Nuovo Cime ...

Stanghellini Award
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References

External links

Faculty webpage of Irene Tamborra at the Niels Bohr Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamborra, Irene Living people Italian astrophysicists 21st-century Italian physicists 21st-century Italian astronomers 21st-century Italian women scientists Year of birth missing (living people) Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen Recipients of the Shakti Duggal Award Italian women astrophysicists University of Bari alumni Neutrino physicists