University professor wins top nuclear physics prize

Michael Ramsey-Musolf, a professor at the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, has been awarded the 2023 Herman Feshbach Prize in Theoretical Nuclear Physics by the American Physical Society, announced the research institute on its official WeChat account last Wednesday.

Professor Ramsey-Musolf, who is also a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, received the prize on Oct 11 for his pioneering contributions "in precision electroweak studies of nuclear and hadronic systems, making fundamental symmetry experiments powerful probes of strong interactions and new physics", according to the APS.

"His award-winning work proposes a more refined method for calculating the structure of elementary particles, which makes it possible for us to understand the structure and physical laws of particles in more detail," said the institute in the announcement.

The Herman Feshbach Prize in Theoretical Nuclear Physics was established by the American Physical Society in 2014 and is awarded annually to recognize and encourage outstanding research achievements in the field of theoretical nuclear physics. It is currently the most important international award in this field.

In 2016, professor Ji Xiangdong of the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute was also given this award for his pioneering work in developing theoretical tools to study the structure of protons and detecting them in experiments.

Professor Zhang Jie, director of the institute, won the Edward Teller Award from the American Nuclear Society in 2015, which is the most outstanding award in the field of high energy density physics and laser fusion research.

"Professor Ramsey-Musolf has become the third scientist at the institute to have won an award of a first-class professional society in the United States, which indicates that the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute is gradually becoming a gathering place for top international talent," said the institute in the announcement.

Proposed by Nobel laureate Tsung-Dao Lee and with support and endorsement from governments and ministries at national and municipal levels, the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute is a basic research institute established at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in November 2016, aiming to build itself into a world-leading science institute.

The institute focuses on the most fundamental science questions and conducts cutting-edge research in physics and astronomy, and the most fundamental and profound laws of interaction in nature.

It aims to assemble teams of close to 100 scientists to carry out pioneering research and collaboration on particle and nuclear physics, astronomy and astrophysics, and quantum science.

According to the website of Shanghai Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Professor Ramsey-Musolf joined the institute in 2019 and he and his collaborators have published three papers in the journal Physical Review Letters. The papers cover research in fields ranging from low-level electroweak precision calculations to early cosmic particle physics.

Ramsey-Musolf said that he will continue to build a world-leading research project on quantum field theory in the early universe in Shanghai and lead international and domestic frontier theoretical research in high energy and nuclear physics.