“It is an Honour to Receive the Scholarship Named after the Legend of World Science”
Nadezhda has been working at the Sector of Weak Interactions since 2011. The head of the department Evgeny Yakushev nominated her for the scholarship competition. Nadezhda’s work and scientific interests are related to neutrino physics. Since 2013, N. Rumyantseva is a member of the international collaboration of the GERDA/LEGEND experiment on the search for neutrinoless double beta decay in Ge-76 which can help to determine the nature of the neutrino (whether it is a Majorana or Dirac particle). In addition, she is a deputy of K. N. Gusev, the head of the LEGEND experiment group at JINR. Konstantin Nikolaevich is her research supervisor.
LEGEND, a new-generation project, is a follow-up to the GERDA and MAJORANA experiments where Ge-76 was also used as a test isotope. Like GERDA, it is located at the underground laboratory Gran Sasso, Italy, and at present it is at the launching stage. There are two phases scheduled according to the development programme: LEGEND-200 and LEGEND-1000. At the first phase, 200 kg of enriched germanium will be used, and during the second phase, the mass of germanium will increase up to 1000 kg.
“In this experiment, I am involved in important and responsible work related to germanium detectors (mounting detectors in holders, ultrasonic welding of detector contacts, assembling detectors into strings) and to installation of the new argon veto system and its adjustment. All the work related to germanium detectors, including ultrasonic welding of detector contacts, are performed in the glove box of the Clean Room of the experiment. Of great significance for me is the crucial role in launching the experiment, including direct work on germanium detectors. This October, 10 strings containing 101 germanium detectors were immersed into liquid argon. Thus, about 140 of 200 kg of enriched germanium are taking physical data. Next year, it is planned to add the missing 60 kg and start the full-fledged experiment. I am going to take part in the launch and adjustment.”
In addition to the LEGEND experiment, the MONUMENT experiment, one of the priorities of the Dzhelepov Laboratory of Nuclear Problems, was indicated in the application. It investigates an ordinary muon capture in different isotopes. The information obtained is necessary for calculation of nuclear matrix elements for the double beta decay. With knowing the nuclear matrix elements, the effective neutrino mass can be calculated. The head of the MONUMENT project is Dania Zinatulina.
“In the MONUMENT experiment, I directly participate in data taking at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland. In 2021, I was one of those responsible for preparation and assembly of the detection facility of the experiment. Now we are processing the experimental data. Next year, we plan to participate in preparation for beam runs, as well as to go on processing experimental data.”
The scholarship, the winner of which became Nadezhda Rumyantseva, is named after Bruno Pontecorvo, an outstanding scientist, the founder of high-energy neutrino physics, who first introduced the idea of neutrino oscillations. Bruno Pontecorvo worked at the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems for over 40 years.
“Bruno Maximovich Pontecorvo is a representative example of a researcher and a scientist. He was fond of physics and wanted to do it in spite of any life circumstances. Also, he managed to find time for his family, friends, sports. It is an honour for me to receive the scholarship named after the legend of world science.”
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