With research and professional development from his experience in TRIUMF's Theory Group, UBC PhD student Mirko Miorelli received a top honour at a recent event. At the 2014 Gordon Research Conference on Photonuclear Reactions: From Quarks to Nuclei, Mirko competed in the poster session and was bestowed the honour of delivering a plenary talk for all delegates at the biennial conference. This is a unique and high honour in this competitive field. To be invited for a lecture at all during one's career is an achievement but to win this as a student speaks volumes about the quality of his work.
The conference took place from August 10-14 at the Holderness School in New Hampshire, USA. The talks featured a concentration on low- and intermediate-energy nuclear physics, hadronic physics and heavy ion collisions. The ~120 delegates included not only professors, but also many young students and postdoctoral researchers.
Mirko shared his research in a poster and plenary lecture titled, "Electric Dipole Polarizability from Coupled-Cluster Theory." At TRIUMF, his research is aimed at extending coupled-cluster theory to the study of electromagnetic reactions in medium-mass nuclei. The conjunction of new algorithms and more computer power allows ab-initio calculations, like those performed by Mirko, to tackle new portions of the nuclear chart. Providing a microscopic interpretation of electromagnetic reactions is key to ultimately understand how nucleons interact with each other giving rise to the broad spectrum of phenomena observed in nuclear physics.
"I am excited about this prize and thankful for all the great opportunities I've had since I arrived at TRIUMF," said Mirko.
As a Masters student from Italy, Mirko first came to TRIUMF in May 2013. Later that year, Mirko obtained his Master of Science in Physics from the University of Trento (Italy). He then entered the PhD program at UBC and continued his research at TRIUMF under the supervision of Sonia Bacca, a Research Scientist in the Theory Group.
"At TRIUMF, Mirko has learned state-of-the-art theory tools and has had lots of opportunity to interact with theorists and experimentalists. Learning how to discuss their research with people of different background is very important in the scientific training and is key to success," said Sonia Bacca.
Mirko plans to continue researching in the field of nuclear theory. In the future, he would like to become an academic researcher and help advance our knowledge on the building blocks of nature.
Congratulations, Mirko!
By Kyla Shauer, Communications Assistant
Photo (from left): Mirko Miorelli and Ron Gilman, Conference Chair.