• Bonnie Fleming

  Neutrino Physicist

Profession:

Horace D. Taft Associate Professor of Physics, Yale University

Education

• B.A., Physics, Barnard College, Columbia University, 1993
• M.A., Physics, Columbia University, 1998
• M.Phil, Physics, Columbia University, 1999
• Ph.D., Columbia University, 2002

Bonnie Fleming is an atom smasher, a.k.a., neutrino physicist. Neutrinos are fundamental particles of the universe that are similar to electrons but do not carry a charge. Fleming studies their properties by observing how they respond in particle detectors. In explaining what particle detectors do, Fleming says, imagine observing the smashing of an egg--an egg that's smashed against a wall at full force is going to have differing properties than one that is barely cracked from a short drop. Now, imagine that happening to a particle that's much much smaller than an egg. You'll learn something different every time.

There is still very little known about the neutrino. What is known is that they travel quickly--almost at the speed of light--and they are so tiny, they're difficult to detect. Neutrinos pass right through you all the time.

How many academic degrees do you need to be a neutrino physicist?

To be a neutrino physicist, you need a Ph.D and usually one in physics is the best, but, in fact, Ray Davis, the 2002 Nobel prize winner for detection of cosmic neutrinos, was a chemist by training!

What does a neutrino look like? Can I paint one?

The best depiction I've seen of a neutrino is a little bandit! There is a website called the Particle Zoo that sells little stuffed animal bandit neutrinos! They are so cute.

What is an "aha moment" in neutrino physics?

When can you go out and celebrate with your colleagues. We always have a big party at the start of a data taking run ... but since it takes a while to launch an experiment, my last start of run party was in 2001. But this makes them big moments :)

Interview

Web Resources

• Fermilab
• Neutrino physics at Fermilab
• What's a Neutrino?
• MiniBooNE Virtual Tour
• Wikipedia: Fermilab