The U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory has announced Cari Cesarotti as one of the recipients of the 2024-2025 Leona Woods Distinguished Postdoctoral Lectureship Award. Cesarotti, a postdoctoral experimental particle physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Theoretical Physics, will deliver two talks on December 3 and 4, 2024.
The award, named in honor of physicist Leona Woods, aims to celebrate the achievements of outstanding female physicists and those from underrepresented minority groups while promoting diversity and inclusion within the Physics Department.
Liza Brost, a physicist in the OMEGA group and next year's chair of the Leona Woods Lectureship Award Program, praised Cesarotti's contributions: "Cari has been a key contributor to the recent Snowmass process...which brought together the U.S. particle physics community to discuss the field's priorities over the next decade."
Cesarotti completed her Ph.D. at Harvard University before joining MIT and is recognized for her work in phenomenology beyond the Standard Model of physics. She focuses on exploring new physics through colliders like CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
Discussing her research focus on muon colliders, Cesarotti stated that "new physics necessitate either new particles or new forces to exist at the fundamental level." She explained how muons present unique challenges due to their heavier mass compared to electrons.
Cesarotti expressed pride in receiving this award: “It makes me feel very proud to be a part of work that people acknowledge...We have come far as a collaboration.”
Her upcoming talks include "The Physics Potential of a Future Muon Collider" on December 3 and "Hitting the Thermal Target with Leptophilic Dark Matter" on December 4. Both events are available online for public viewing via Zoom.
Established in 2017, The Leona Woods Distinguished Postdoctoral Lectureship Award recognizes women and minority physicists' achievements while highlighting scientific community diversity. It considers nominees' scientific excellence and community service commitments.