Last updated on Saturday, September 25th, 2021

Professor Dorin N POENARU , Born on 09.04.1936 in Suiug, Bihor, Romania. Romanian citizenship.

Research Career Details

B.E.E. from the Faculty of Electronics, Polytechnical Institute of Bucharest (1958).

B.S. from the Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest (1971).

PhD degree in Nuclear Electronics, Polytechnical University of Bucharest (1968). Thesis: Semiconductor detectors for nuclear radiations.

PhD degree in Theoretical Physics, Central Institute of Physics, Bucharest (1980). Thesis: Mass asymmetry in fusion and fission reactions.

1958–1962 Electronic engineer, Institute of Atomic Physics (IFA) of the Romanian Academy, Magurele, near Bucharest. 

1996– Senior researcher of 1st degree, Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH), Magurele, near Bucharest.

Associate Professor, Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest, since 1990.

Elected HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ROMANIAN ACADEMY on June 30, 2017.

Research achievements and some interesting memories with his collaborators.

Mentioned with A. Sandulescu and W. Greiner (1935-2016) in the New Encyclopaedia Britannica (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/465998/D-N-Poenaru) for calculations, published in 1980, indicating the possibility of a new type of decay of nuclei: heavy particle radioactivity.} Starting with 1984 the following types of radioactivities have been experimentally confirmed worldwide (Oxford, Moscova, Orsay, Berkeley, Geneva, Dubna, Argonne, Milano, Viena, Lanzhou, Beijing and Livermore): $^{14}$C, $^{20}$O, $^{23}$F, $^{22,24-26}$Ne, $^{28,30}$Mg and $^{32,34}$Si. The measured half-lives are in good agreement with theoretical predictions within the analytical super asymmetric fission model developed by D. N. Poenaru, W. Greiner et al. 

There are only 6 Romanian (or Romanian born) Scientists in this Encyclopaedia: 1. N.C. Paulescu (1869-1931) who conducted groundbreaking research on the antidiabetic hormone insulin; 2. Henri Marie Coanda(1886 -1972) Romanian inventor, aerodynamics pioneer, and builder of an experimental aircraft. He discovered the Coandă effect of fluid dynamics; 3-4. Aureliu Sandulescu (1932-2019) and Dorin N Poenaru (1936- ) Romanian theoretical physicists. Two romanian born: George E. PALADE (1912-2008) (Nobel Pr. for Medicine 1974, SUA) for discoveries concerning the functional organization of the cell that were seminal events in the development of modern cell biology, and Stefan W. HELL (1962- ) (Nobel Pr. for Chemistry 2014, Germany) for an ultrasensitive microscop.

In the article published in Phys. Rev. C 92 (2015) 064301 by Y.Z. Wang et al. it is shown that from 18 formulae used to calculate $\alpha$~decay half-lives the best results are obtained with semFIS2 and UNIV2 developed by D.N. Poenaru et al.

Some Questions & Answers 

Sushil Kumar: What motivates you to do the research still now (age 85 yrs) and how do you see the present research in comparison to the 25-30 yrs back 

Professor Dorin N POENARU:  I am dedicated to my research activity. Despite that I am retired I continue to work at home because for the theory I need a PC. All my life I had the privilege to enjoy my work. I shall continue always to do my best in order to achieve new levels of knowledge.

Sushil Kumar: When you write a research paper how do you plan the findings from introduction to the result analysis?

Professor Dorin N POENARU: In an Introduction, I give a short history of the research field by citing the most relevant articles and books and my own previous publications of interest, as well as a presentation of what follows. Then I present the theory and the results, illustrated by figures and tables, stressing the comparison with existing experimental data, and making predictions meant to guide future experiments.

Sushil Kumar: When you review a manuscript, what are the basic and advanced things that matter for you?

Professor Dorin N POENARU: In a theoretical article, very important is the originality of the research and the relevance of the results for experiments, and the advancement of the corresponding field of science. 

Sushil Kumar: Have you ever found a situation when the reviewer did not agree with your explanation of the findings/observations?

Professor Dorin N POENARU: When I observe that the referee of my research work submitted for publication ignores my explanations and the improvements of the article, I submit the paper to another Journal.

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