IceCube collaborator and Harvard physics professor Carlos A. Argüelles-Delgado is the recipient of a 2021 IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Astroparticle Physics.
Young Scientist Prizes recognize the contributions of early career physicists within the subfields of each commission of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). The accolade consists of a certificate, medal, and a monetary award, which are usually presented biannually at the International Cosmic Ray Conference; however, since the 2021 ICRC is taking place online, Argüelles accepted his award at a virtual ceremony on July 12.
In his research, Argüelles develops new techniques to study and characterize astrophysical neutrinos to search for new neutrino physics and understand the origin of the high-energy astrophysical neutrino flux. Additionally, he has worked on searching for signatures of new physics using the large sample of IceCube atmospheric neutrino events. He is also involved in the development of the IceCube Upgrade, which will extend IceCube’s scientific capabilities to lower energies and enable more precise flavor identification of neutrinos.
In support of his experimental work, Argüelles also studies neutrino phenomenology, allowing him to be involved in the full arc of an experimental analysis, from initial idea to final result. His recent work includes calculating signatures of heavy neutrinos and neutrino–dark matter interactions. Currently, Argüelles is collaborating on a project to search for deviations from the expected behavior of neutrinos in the global neutrino data set.
“I am honored to receive this award,” said Argüelles. “I thank my mentors, my IceCube collaborators and friends, and my neutrino theory friends. For me, this award reflects the fact that we live in very exciting times to do neutrino physics and astrophysics. There is much to discover and learn ahead of us.”
by Madeleine O'Keefe