Princeton University professor emeritus Frank Calaprice was awarded the 2023 Hans Bethe Prize by the American Physical Society “for pioneering work on large-scale ultra-low-background detectors, specifically Borexino, measuring the complete spectroscopy of solar neutrinos, culminating in observation of CNO neutrinos, thus experimentally proving operation of all the nuclear-energy driving reactions of stellar evolution.” The Bethe Prize is awarded annually since 1998 to one individual for outstanding accomplishments in the areas of astrophysics, nuclear physics, nuclear astrophysics, or closely related fields. It is open to any scientist working in these areas, worldwide.
Frank Calaprice co-founded the Borexino experiment in the early 1990s with prof Gianpaolo Bellini (Milano University, Italy) and Raju Raghavan (Bell Labs). He pioneered key low-radioactivity techniques that made Borexino uniquely successful in the detection of all solar neutrinos. He led the design, commissioning, and operation of the nylon scintillator containment vessels and of the scintillator purification and handling plants that enabled the unmatched radio-purity of Borexino, the new standard for today’s rare event searches. Frank was doctoral advisor of UMass’s Prof. Andrea Pocar.