Francesco CAPPUZZELLO

Main specific professional experiences in research activity

• Magnetic spectrometry: I have contributed to the field of magnetic spectrometry. The main achievement is the design and construction of the MAGNEX large acceptance magnetic spectrometer, which has strongly characterized the first part of my career. The spectrometer is installed at the INFN-LNS laboratory and it is nowadays a unique device worldwide, conjugating large solid angle and large momentum acceptance with high energy, mass and angular resolution. As a consequence, it is attracting many research groups from abroad (almost half of the beam time delivered in recent years at the INFN laboratory and more than 50 researchers per year from abroad have proposed and performed experiments with MAGNEX). Part of this activity is presented in two review papers

The MAGNEX spectrometer: Results and perspectives F. Cappuzzello et al., European Physical Journal A (2016) 52: 167. DOI 10.1140/epja/i2016-16167-1

 MAGNEX: an innovative large acceptance spectrometer for nuclear reaction studies F. Cappuzzello, D. Carbone, M. Cavallaro and A. Cunsolo, in: Magnets: Types, Uses and Safety, Nova Publisher Inc., New York, 2011, pp 1-63.

• Transfer reactions: I participated and organized, often acting as spokesperson, several experiments in various international laboratories studying nucleon and cluster transfer reactions. The major achievement has been the discovery of signatures of the long searched Giant Pairing Vibrations in atomic nuclei. Such finding has permitted to overcome a fundamental problem of symmetries in quantum-mechanics arising from the not observation for several decades of this collective mode

Signatures of the Giant Pairing Vibration in the ¹⁴C and ¹⁵C atomic nuclei, F. Cappuzzello et al., Nature Communications, Article number: 6743 (2015). DOI:10.1038/ncomms7743.

New structures in the continuum of ¹⁵C populated by two-neutron transfer, F. Cappuzzello et al. Physics Letters B 711 (2012) 347-352. DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2012.04.012

• Elastic and inelastic scattering: I am spokesperson of an extensive collaboration with IFUSP of San Paolo and IFUFF of Niteroi (Brazil), which is focused on these issues. We have already shown that the phenomenon of nuclear rainbow is also present in collisions between heavy nuclei

Nuclear rainbow in the ¹⁶O+²⁷Al system: The role of couplings at energies far above the barrier, D. Pereira et al., Physics Letters B 710 (2012) 426–429. DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2012.03.032

• Charge exchange reactions: subject of the degree and Ph.D. theses. These studies have shown that the heavy-ion induced charge exchange cross sections are connected to the strength of the corresponding beta-decay, with major consequences in both nuclear physics and astrophysics. A large collaboration on these items has been established between our group and the RCNP laboratory of the Osaka University.

Analysis of the ¹¹B(⁷Li,⁷Be)¹¹Be reaction at 57 MeV in a microscopic approach F. Cappuzzello et al. Nuclear Physics A 739 (2004) 30-56. DOI: 10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2004.03.221

• Double Charge Exchange reactions: I proposed the first pioneering experiments showing that the matrix elements of double beta decay can be extracted, under specific conditions, from cross sections of double charge exchange at zero degrees. This has triggered the NUMEN project of INFN, aiming at determining data-driven matrix elements for neutrino-less double beta decay. First results are found in

Heavy-ion double charge exchange reactions: A tool toward 0ubb nuclear matrix elements F. Cappuzzello et al., European Physical Journal A (2015) 51: 145. DOI 10.1140/epja/i2015-15145-5.

• Structure of light nuclei: I have proposed and participated to several experiments in Italy, France, Brazil, Japan and Canada to study the structure of various light nuclei

Excited states of ¹¹Be F. Cappuzzello et al., Physics Letters B 516 (2001) 21-26 DOI: 10.1016/S0370-2693(01)00940-6

Investigation of the ¹⁰Li shell inversion by neutron continuum transfer reaction, M. Cavallaro, M. De Napoli, F. Cappuzzello et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 118, 012701 (2017). DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.012701

Tutoring responsibilities

I had and have the pleasure and responsibility to train and introduce to research activity several young students from different countries (13 Master, 12 Ph.D., 11 Post-Doc, 5 ERASMUS+ fellows). Some of them have already completed their training and are now approaching their activity in public research or in private companies.

Main outreach activities

• Co-Author of three articles published by the "La Sicilia" newspaper distributed in Italy
• Co-Author of three articles published by the “Il Sole 24 ore” (main newspaper for economics in Italy)
• Interviewed by the journalist Sylvie Coyaud in the program “Le Oche” of the “Radio Popolare” national radio broadcast (http://www.radiopopolare.it/podcast/le-oche-di-ven-0304/)
• Interviewed twice by Radio Zammù broadcast of the Catania University http://www.radiozammu.it/cnnp2017-prof-ri-agodi-cappuzzello-a-catania-per-condividere-e-spingere-oltre-la-conoscenza.htm
• Author of one article in the “Bollettino di Ateneo” journal of the Catania University (http://bollettino.unict.it/articoli/la-risonanza-gigante-di-pairing)
• The scientific article F. Cappuzzello et al. Nature Communications 6 (2015) 6743 was the object of a dedicated blog in the “La Repubblica D” national on-line news-paper, moderated by the journalist Sylvie Coyaud (http://ocasapiens-dweb.blogautore.repubblica.it/2015/04/03/le-oche-9-good-vibrations/)
• Co-Author of F. Cappuzzello, D. Carbone, M. Cavallaro, A. M. Muoio “La Risonanza Gigante di Pairing nei nuclei atomici: un nuovo ballo di gruppo”, published by Scienze e Ricerche N.39 (2016). http://www.scienze-ricerche.it/?p=11152
• Author of a dissemination article published on the specialized international journal "Research Outreach" entitled "NUMEN project" https://researchoutreach.org/articles/physical-sciences/numen-project-exploring-key-aspects-neutrinoless-double-beta-decay-nuclear-reactions/