Faculty Biographies

Barbara Szczerbinska

Barbara Szczerbinska is currently an Assistant Professor of Physics at Dakota State University in Madison, SD. She has been working at DSU, College of Arts and Sciences since summer 2006. Barbara received her PhD in Physics with an emphasis in theoretical nuclear physics from the University of South Carolina (USC) in Columbia, SC in 2006. Prior to that, Barbara spent 18 months working at the Institute of Nuclear Physics (present Polish Academy of Science) in Krakow, Poland. She also holds a MS in theoretical physics from University of Wroclaw (UW) in Wroclaw, Poland.

Barbara’s current research interests focus on neutrino-nucleus cross sections relevant to atmospheric and long baseline experiments. She works on this subject together with world known researches in the field: Prof. Kuniharu Kubodera from University of South Carolina, Columbia SC, Prof. Harry Lee from Argonne National Laboratory, Batavia, IL and Prof. Toru Sato from Osaka University, Japan. She is also a member of Homestake-DUSEL Collaboration (Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory) which includes several in and out of state universities, Berkeley National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Barbara’s other responsibilities at DSU are related to teaching and service to the university and the community. She teaches a variety of undergraduate courses in physics – general physics, classical mechanics, electrodynamics, quantum physics etc. She supervises Women in Science and Technology organization which focuses on female students in all science and technology programs offered at the university. She helps the students to organize field trips (for example upcoming trip to Homestake Mine where students will be able to meet with several scientists from in and out of state, visit the mine, meet with the director of the lab, learn about the history and future opportunities of the mine), bring guest speakers (scientists from other universities, national labs, Europe). Barbara helps students to develop their internship opportunities at different research institutions and look for graduate programs after the graduation. Many of these activities are covered by American Association of University Women and NASA Space Grant – both lately awarded to Barbara.

Cristiano Galbiati

My interests lie at the intersection of particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology.

Dark matter
Recent observations from WMAP have shown that a large fraction of the energy in the Universe - 30% - is in the form of a dark matter fundamentally different from ordinary matter. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, or WIMPs, created in the big bang, are one of the most promising ideas for what this dark matter could be. Particle physics provides a well-motivated possibility for the identity of the WIMP - the lightest, and by necessity stable, particle in supersymmetry. I am exploring new ideas on direct Dark Matter detection using gaseous Xenon or liquid Argon as detection medium. I am a member of the WARP experiment at Gran Sasso.

Solar Neutrinos
I am a member of the Borexino solar neutrino experiment. The Borexino experiment is now built and will start taking data in 2006. I had a significant role in the construction of the experiment, and had responsibilities for the construction of the nylon vessels - thin nylon ballons that serve as the scintillator containment system - and of the electronics for the muon veto. Borexino is well poised to make the first direct measurement of the low energy portion of the solar neutrino spectrum. This will provide a very sensitive test of the matter-enhanced neutrinos oscillations proposed as a solution of the old Solar Neutrinos Problem. Neutrinos oscillations are the first probe of new physics beyond the Standard Model of Interactions. Borexino will also be able to test several non-standard scenarios for neutrinos physics hypothesized by theorists to explain results from past experiments, i.e. Mass Varying Neutrinos (MVN) and Non-Standard Interactions (NSI). Borexino will also be able to measure neutrinos from radioactive decays in the earth's crust, the so-called geo-neutrinos.

Research Opportunities
I am looking for one graduate student to work on the software and analysis for the Borexino experiment. I am looking for a second student to work on the Dark Matter and Ultra-High Energy Neutrinos project.

For more information:
Cristiano Galbiati's webpage