Currently Jefferson Lab's Nathan Isgur Research Fellow, Raul Briceno was presented with the 2017 Kenneth Wilson Award for excellence in Lattice Field Theory, at the 35th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, Granada Spain, 18--24 June 2017. The award citation noted his "groundbreaking contributions to the study of resonances using lattice QCD."
"The vast majority of stuff that we see in nature that gives us insight into how things work at the fundamental level are resonances. And so, if we want to understand nuclear physics at its core, we have to think about these short-lived states," he said. "They play an important role in the early stages of the universe, in experiments in different facilities, and in the formation of stars and planets, because they're just present in so many reactions."
Briceno studies resonances that are present inside the heart of matter. He works with his colleagues to probe them directly from the theory of the particles and forces that build our universe at the scale of protons and neutrons inside atoms: Quantum Chromodynamics.
The award, given annually in honor of Nobel Laureate Kenneth Wilson, recognizes an outstanding physicists who has completed his or her Ph.D. within the past seven years. More about Dr. Briceno's award can be found here.
Dr. Briceno is joining the ODU faculty this fall, and received his Ph.D. in 2013 from the University of Washington, Seattle WA.