Yannis K. Semertzidis is a physicist exploring

axion An axion () is a hypothetical elementary particle postulated by the Peccei–Quinn theory in 1977 to resolve the strong CP problem in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). If axions exist and have low mass within a specific range, they are of interes ...

s as a

dark matter Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe. Dark matter is called "dark" because it does not appear to interact with the electromagnetic field, which means it does not ab ...

candidate, precision physics in storage rings including muon ''g''-2 and proton

electric dipole moment The electric dipole moment is a measure of the separation of positive and negative electrical charges within a system, that is, a measure of the system's overall polarity. The SI unit for electric dipole moment is the coulomb-meter (C⋅m). The ...

(pEDM). The axion and the pEDM are intimately connected through the

strong CP problem The strong CP problem is a puzzling question in particle physics: Why does quantum chromodynamics (QCD) seem to preserve CP-symmetry? In particle physics, CP stands for the combination of charge conjugation symmetry (C) and parity symmetry (P) ...

. Furthermore, if the pEDM is found to be non-zero, it can help resolve the matter anti-matter asymmetry mystery of our universe. During his research career, he held a number of positions in the Department of Physics in

Brookhaven National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Upton, Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base and Japanese internment c ...

, including initiator and co-spokesperson of the Storage Ring Electric Dipole Moment Collaboration. He is the founding director of the

Institute for Basic Science The Institute for Basic Science (IBS; ) is a Korean government-funded research institute that conducts basic science research and relevant pure basic research. IBS was established in November 2011 by the Lee Myung-bak administration as a res ...

(IBS) Center for Axion and Precision Physics Research, is a professor in the Physics Department of

KAIST The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is a national research university located in Daedeok Innopolis, Daejeon, South Korea. KAIST was established by the Korean government in 1971 as the nation's first public, research ...

, and a Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

Education

Semertzidis received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in physics from the

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

in 1984. He then moved to New York and studied at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

, obtaining

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

and Ph.D in physics in 1987 and 1989, respectively.

Career

From 1990 until 1992, he worked as a

research associate Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Master's degree. In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical School/Harvard School of Public Health, the ...

in the University of Rochester. Staying in New York, he next worked as an assistant physicist in the Department of Physics in

(BNL) from 1992. The next year he took a leave of absence to work as a Fellow in the PPE Division at

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...

from 1993 to 1995. He returned to BNL and worked as a physicist in 1997, became a tenured physicist in March 2000, and finally a tenured senior scientist in September 2012. While at BNL he primarily focused on two experimental projects: a number of precision physics experiments related to axions as a candidate for dark matter, and precision physics in storage rings, which included muons, and looking for the electric dipole moment of protons with increased sensitivity. If the electric dipole moment of protons is non-zero, it would violate the discrete symmetries of T-time and P-parity reversal symmetries in quantum mechanics. These symmetries are connected to the matter-antimatter asymmetry problem and observing the proton electric dipole moment could help solve that mystery. While working at BNL, Semertzidis also mentored a number of students with multiple of them going on to win awards. From summer 2015, his Center hosts an annual summer science program (KUSP) aimed at young physics students. In October 2013, Semertzidis became the director of the Institute for Basic Science Center for Axion and Precision Physics Research and a physics professor at KAIST, where the Center is located. The dark matter research is focusing on the axion; a hypothetical

elementary particle In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a subatomic particle that is not composed of other particles. Particles currently thought to be elementary include electrons, the fundamental fermions ( quarks, leptons, an ...

as a result of the

Peccei–Quinn theory In particle physics, the Peccei–Quinn theory is a well-known, long-standing proposal for the resolution of the strong CP problem formulated by Roberto Peccei and Helen Quinn in 1977. The theory introduces a new anomalous symmetry to the Stan ...

in 1977 to resolve the

quantum chromodynamics In theoretical physics, quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the theory of the strong interaction between quarks mediated by gluons. Quarks are fundamental particles that make up composite hadrons such as the proton, neutron and pion. QCD is a type ...

. As the mass of the axion is unknown, they are searching in the mass range of 0.001 meV to 1 meV by converting axions into microwave photons inside a large volume, with a high magnetic field, and inside a

microwave cavity A microwave cavity or ''radio frequency (RF) cavity'' is a special type of resonator, consisting of a closed (or largely closed) metal structure that confines electromagnetic fields in the microwave region of the spectrum. The structure is eithe ...

; a technique invented by Pierre Sikivie. If it is within this range, it is possible it will be discovered within the next ten years. Utilizing techniques created for the muon ''g''-2 experiment and elsewhere, they are working towards improving the accuracy of

experiments to better than 10⁻²⁹e-cm. In 2023, the Center for Axion and Precision Physics Research utilized a 12T magnet to search for axions in the Dine-Fischler-Srednicki-Zhitnitsky sensitivity, becoming only the second group in the world to do so. The first group is the Axion Dark Matter eXperiment (ADMX) which uses a 8T magnet.

Honors and awards

* 2005: Fellow of the

* 2003:

Science and Technology Award

References

External links

Institute for Basic Science - Yannis Semertzidis

IBS Center for Axion and Precision Physics Research

Yannis Semertzidis - Google Scholar

Institute for Basic Science
{{DEFAULTSORT:Semertzidis 21st-century Greek physicists Institute for Basic Science Fellows of the American Physical Society Brookhaven National Laboratory staff University of Rochester alumni University of Rochester faculty Aristotle University of Thessaloniki alumni Academic staff of KAIST 1961 births Living people People associated with CERN People from Katerini Greek Macedonians