Giuliano Preparata
Tipologia Fondo
Tipologia
- fondo
Numerazione
- Numero definitivo
- 14
Contenuto
- fascicoli
Abstract
- Giuliano Preparata was born in Padua in 1942, attended the "Pio Albertelli" high school in Rome and graduated in theoretical physics with honors, also in Rome, in 1964 with Prof. Raoul Gatto. The following year he was in Florence, CNR fellow, then professor in charge of neutron physics. From 1967 to 1972 he taught at the most prestigious American universities such as Princeton, Harvard, Rockefeller, New York University. He obtained his professorship in Theoretical Physics, in 1969; he won the competition for tenure in Theoretical Physics in 1975. From 1974 to 1980 he is Staff Member in the Theory Division of CERN, Geneva. Giuliano Preparata has devoted much of his scientific activity to high-energy physics, bringing relevant contributions to the construction of the Standard Model, the new synthesis of subnuclear interactions. In particular, he elucidated the Dirac quantum field nature of Quark, a fundamental premise of electroweak unification, and proposed a solution to the crucial problem of color confinement within the framework of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). Since 1987 he has also turned his attention to the problems of condensed matter and nuclear physics in the framework of quantum field theory, discovering new coherent solutions of QED in dense enough and cold enough systems. This allowed him to approach old problems, such as liquid water theory, and new ones, such as cold fusion, from a completely new perspective. He has also developed with Cecilia Saccone, Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Bari, a Markovian model of molecular evolution that has received considerable attention from the international scientific community. He has published about 400 papers in the following fields: subnuclear physics, nuclear physics, laser physics, superconductivity, superfluidity, liquid and solid water, condensed matter (glasses, colloids, electrolytes, etc.), neutron star physics, astrophysics of GRBs (gamma ray bursts), cold fusion. He was also interested in the properties of electromagnetic fields in water, in a series of experimental works later taken up in 2009 by Nobel Prize for Medicine winner Luc Montagnier. Since Nobel Laureate Martin Fleischmann's announcement of Cold Fusion in 1989, he has been among the pioneers in the study of this much contested and troubled phenomenon, of which he sketches the first explanation. On leave from Milan State University since 2000 he had moved home and work to Frascati to pursue his Cold Fusion project operating for about a year in collaboration with ENEA. At the same time, for the past three years, Giuliano Preparata had formed a collaboration with Prof. Remo Ruffini to study gamma rays recorded in those years by the Beppo SAX satellite of the Italian-Dutch collaboration of which the Italian Space Agency was a part. Giuliano Preparata, in his last year of life, already ill, did not stop working, and devoted himself to the study of the Small Bang "the burst that probably is at the origin of the formation of our solar system, of our Earth therefore of us all. In death Giuliano wanted to explain our birth" (Renzo Alzetta, April 24, 2000). Preparata was a free man; he considered physics-and science in general-a manifestation of the spirit like art, music, love, passion. His view of matter was "dominated by enchantment. Atoms were not for him entrusted to chance, abandoned in a meaningless jumble, but were in a coherent condition, arranged in fields that vibrate in unison, in phase, tuned like instruments in a concert (Giuseppe Sermonti, May 23, 2000).
Note
- Archival Note.
The reorganization of the papers was done while maintaining the original order, facilitated by the care with which Preparata himself had organized the archive. The documents are presented collected in folders, files and envelopes. The indication of contents is in most cases given by Preparata. The structure of the archive was identified according to the different stages of the academic career that marked the scientist's life.
Giuliano Preparata is listed as G.P.
Titles
In most cases the titles are the original ones given by G.P.
n the absence of the original title, the title of the first note has been given.
In the field " Supplement to title" a uniform and complete title has been formulated, also for the purpose of facilitating research. Example: University of Milan - Dissertation Committee.
The standard conference wording is given next to the original title. Example: Erice 1976 (International School of Physics Ettore Majorana).
Correspondence
Correspondence is largely contained in files organized by date, but is also found in individual folders and thematic files, if relevant to the content.
In most cases, G.P. preserves the minutes of letters sent to correspondents, so there is a real correspondence.
Extreme dates are given whenever possible. Example: January 21, 1968-May 30, 1969.
Sorting
Within each series the system organizes papers in chronological sequence. It therefore happens that national and international conferences are not grouped by title and date, because papers collected during the year are inserted between conferences.
"Manuscript notes": these are handwritten first draft papers later published, papers at conferences, university lectures, original transparencies.
Dating
In the original titles, the dates are always in English, as reported by G.P.