National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) and University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
My colleagues know a lot about me because we have been spending so much time together, especially underground, but one thing just a few people know: I’m very good at entertaining children. I’m a perfect baby sitter. I like to invent games for toddlers or elementary school kids. I bet my wife that I could invent a game to teach my daughter the basics of algebra. I called it The Magic World of Linear Algebra. It was Harry Potter-based and used spells and equations. Spell after spell, my daughter became proficient in algebra at 7 or 8 years old. My wife was astonished, and I won the bet.
I’ve been working on accelerator-based neutrino experiments for 20 years. The collaborations are usually pretty small – between 20 and 200 people – and they are scattered all around the world. With DUNE, for the first time in my life I have the opportunity to work simultaneously with all my friends. Every time I come to Fermilab I see people I haven’t worked with in 10 years. All of the experts are focused on the same goal. It’s unique.