Lia Merming alla PIP-II Injector Test facility PIP2IT
Lia Merminga, fisico e leader scientifico di fama internazionale, è stata nominata a capo del Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, a partire dal 18 aprile.
Lia Merminga, prima donna alla guida del laboratorio, sarà il settimo direttore di Fermilab che è il principale laboratorio di fisica delle particelle e acceleratori degli Stati Uniti e la cui missione è gettare nuova luce sulla nostra comprensione dell'universo, dai i più piccoli elementi costitutivi della materia fino ai segreti più profondi di materia ed energia oscura.
Come riportano i comunicati ufficiali di Fermilab:
“Lia, an internationally renowned physicist and scientific leader, is well positioned to lead the laboratory. To this critical role, she brings an exceptional track record of success, passion for science, proven ability to execute major projects, focus on the talent and diversity of the Fermilab community, and strong commitment to the national and global high-energy physics communities.
Merminga currently serves as director for the Proton Improvement Plan II or PIP-II project at Fermilab, an essential enhancement to Fermilab’s accelerator complex, which will enable the world’s most intense high-energy neutrino beam to the flagship Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility and the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment and drive a broad physics research program.
PIP-II features a brand-new, 800-million-electronvolt leading-edge superconducting radio-frequency linear accelerator that will enable the Fermilab complex to deliver more than a megawatt of beam power to LBNF, upgradeable to multimegawatt levels. Its novel technologies, coupled with a flexible and highly-capable design, will enable high-power beam delivery to multiple experiments simultaneously and customized beams tailored to specific scientific needs.
Using this exquisite tool, scientists will pursue an extensive suite of particle physics experiments, including searches for new particles and new forces in our universe.
The PIP-II project exemplifies the global nature of particle physics. With planned contributions from research institutions in India, United Kingdom, Italy, France and Poland, PIP-II is the first U.S. Department of Energy accelerator to be built with significant international contributions, pioneering a new way of doing major accelerator projects in the U.S. The project’s international partners bring world-class expertise and capabilities in accelerator technologies and established track records in participating in major international accelerator projects.”
Tra questi si complimenta con Lia per il prestigioso traguardo il gruppo SRF del LASA che rappresenta, attraverso l’INFN, l’Italia nello sviluppo e realizzazione di PIP-II avendo la responsabilità delle cavità ellittiche a basso beta (LB650) che sono certamente tra gli elementi più all'avanguardia di PIP-II.