Marcela Carena

Marcela Carena
Born (1962-03-22) 22 March 1962
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Citizenship United States, Italy, and Argentina
Nationality Argentinian
Fields Particle physics
Institutions Fermilab, University of Chicago, Enrico Fermi Institute
Alma mater University of Hamburg
Doctoral advisor Roberto Peccei
Known for Theory and phenomenology of the Higgs boson, Supersymmetry, and electroweak baryogenesis

Marcela Carena (born 22 March 22, 1962 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a theoretical physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and a professor at the University of Chicago and the Enrico Fermi Institute. She is the Director of International Relations at Fermilab, as well as the head of the Theoretical Physics Department.[1] As of January 1, 2016 she is the Chair Elect of the Division of Particles and Fields of the American Physical Society.[2]

Background and education

Carena received her diploma in Physics from the Instituto Balseiro of Bariloche, Argentina in 1985, and her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Hamburg in 1989. She was a John Stuart Bell Fellow at CERN in 1993–95 and was awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship in 1996. She was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2002.

Dr. Carena is married to the theoretical physicist Carlos E.M. Wagner.

Research

Carena's research is focused on models of new physics beyond the Standard Model and their manifestations in particle physics experiments. She explores possible connections between Higgs boson, Supersymmetry, Grand Unification, Flavor Physics and Dark Matter. For example, she has developed a particle physics model which explains the matter – anti-matter asymmetry of the universe (also known as baryogenesis). This model posits key super-symmetric particles, such as a light stop (scalar top) quark, as well as a relatively light Higgs boson. The LHC experiments should be able to test this model definitively.

Carena works closely with experimental physicists. Her interest in experimental tests of theoretical models started with the e+e- LEP experiments at CERN, and include now the proton anti-proton experiments at the Tevatron and the proton-proton experiments at the LHC. Her goal is to develop experimental tests of the latest theoretical ideas for the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking, which is purported to be responsible for the masses of the fundamental particles. Recently she has demonstrated the complementary interplay of direct searches for Dark Matter and searches for Higgs bosons in collider experiments.

Professional activities

Carena was a General Councilor of the American Physical Society (APS) and a member of the APS Committee on International Scientific Affairs. She is a former chair of the DPF Nominating Committee. She served on the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) of the U.S. DOE/NSF High Energy Physics Advisory Panel (HEPAP).

Carena originated a visitor program which brings students from Latin America to Fermilab so that they can pursue research projects with Fermilab theoretical physicists as part of their graduate education.

Carena frequently delivers public lectures in conjunction with professional workshops in the Fermilab area and elsewhere. She was featured in the 2008 documentary film The Atom Smashers.

Publications

Dr. Carena's publications are available on the INSPIRE-HEP Literature Database .

References

  1. ↑ "Exploring Our Universe: The Smallest, The Biggest; The Evident, The Invisible".
  2. ↑ "Division of Particles and Fields Executive Committee".
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