Clare Burrage
{{short description|British particle physicist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Clare Burrage
| birth_name = Clare Joanna Burrage
| fields = Dark energy
| workplaces = University of Nottingham
DESY
University of Geneva
| alma_mater = University of Cambridge (PhD)
| thesis_title = Scalar Fields and the Accelerated Expansion of the Universe
| thesis_url = http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.611090
| thesis_year = 2008
| doctoral_advisor = Anne-Christine Davis
| awards = Maxwell Medal and Prize (2015)
| website = {{URL|https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/physics/people/clare.burrage}}
}}
Clare Joanna Burrage is a British particle physicist at the University of Nottingham. She has made significant contributions to dark energy research, using astrophysical probes and interferometry.
Early life and education
Burrage attributes her love of cosmology to driving past the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory as a child.{{Cite web|url=http://www.iop.org/news/15/aug/page_66100.html|title=Award-winning early-career physicist is put in the spotlight|last=Physics|first=Institute of|website=www.iop.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-06-12|archive-date=2018-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612232925/http://www.iop.org/news/15/aug/page_66100.html|url-status=dead}} She attended Collingwood College, Surrey, achieving A-Levels in Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics and German.{{Cite news|url=https://archive.imascientist.org.uk/electromagneticm12-zone/profile/clareburrage.html|title=Profile - Electromagnetic Zone|work=Electromagnetic Zone|access-date=2018-06-12|language=en-US}} She studied Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, earning a Masters in 2004 and Part III of the Mathematical Tripos in 2005. Whilst a student, Burrage worked at Legoland Windsor Resort. For her postgraduate research she joined Anne-Christine Davis in the Department of Applied Maths and Theoretical Physics, studying Scalar Fields and the Accelerated Expansion of the Universe.{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Cambridge|url=https://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/6118830?style=html|title=Scalar fields and the accelerated expansion of the universe|first=Clare Joanna|last=Burrage|date=2009|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.611090}}|website=jisc.ac.uk|oclc=890152846|accessdate=2018-06-20|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620074311/https://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/6118830?style=html|archivedate=2018-06-20|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.academia-net.org/profil/dr-clare-burrage/1353618|title=Dr. Clare Burrage - AcademiaNet|website=www.academia-net.org|language=en|access-date=2018-06-12}} She spotted signs of the elusive chameleon particle in the active galactic nucleus of Messier 87.{{Cite journal|last=Merali|first=Zeeya|date=2009-05-29|title=Dark-energy particle spotted?|url=https://www.nature.com/news/2009/090529/full/news.2009.531.html|journal=Nature|language=en|doi=10.1038/news.2009.531|issn=0028-0836|url-access=subscription}}
Research and career
Burrage was appointed as a postdoctoral fellow in the theoretical physics group at DESY in 2008.{{Cite web|url=http://www.desy.de/~teschner/members.html|title=Members of the Group|website=www.desy.de|access-date=2018-06-12}} Whilst at DESY she found astrophysical evidence for axion-photon conversion.{{Cite journal|last1=Burrage|first1=Clare|last2=Davis|first2=Anne-Christine|last3=Shaw|first3=Douglas J.|date=2009-05-21|title=Active Galactic Nuclei Shed Light on Axion-like-Particles|journal=Physical Review Letters|volume=102|issue=20|page=201101 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.201101|pmid=19519013 |issn=0031-9007|arxiv=0902.2320|bibcode=2009PhRvL.102t1101B|s2cid=34372894 }}{{Cite news|url=https://physicsworld.com/a/evidence-mounts-for-axion-like-particles/|title=Evidence mounts for axion-like particles – Physics World|date=2009-02-18|work=Physics World|access-date=2018-06-12|language=en-GB}} She moved to the University of Geneva in 2010, working in cosmology. In 2011 Burrage was appointed the Anne McLaren Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham. Burrage uses observation of light from astrophysical sources to test for dark energy.{{Cite web|url=http://www.iop.org/about/awards/early-career/maxwell/medallists/page_65817.html|title=2015 Maxwell medal and prize|last=Physics|first=Institute of|website=www.iop.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-06-12|archive-date=2018-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612233105/http://www.iop.org/about/awards/early-career/maxwell/medallists/page_65817.html|url-status=dead}} She was awarded a Royal Society research fellowship in 2013 and again in 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/clare-burrage-8926/|title=Clare Burrage|website=royalsociety.org|language=en-gb|access-date=2018-06-12}}{{Cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/clare-burrage-6561/|title=Clare Burrage|website=royalsociety.org|language=en-gb|access-date=2018-06-12}} She won the 2015 Institute of Physics Maxwell Medal and Prize. Burrage works with the Centre for Cold Matter at Imperial College London, where she develops light-pulse atom interferometers to accelerate atoms for force sensing.{{Cite web|url=http://www.imperial.ac.uk/centre-for-cold-matter/research/cold-atoms/dark-energy/|title=Searching for dark energy candidates using atom interferometry|website=Imperial College London|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-06-12}} By combining astrophysical observations with atomic techniques, Burrage has provided the best constraints on the various ways dark energy can interact with matter.
= Public engagement =
Burrage has taken part in several public engagement activities, including I'm a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here. She was part of a pairing program with a member of parliament and has presented her work at the Palace of Westminster. She has taken part in the Edinburgh International Festival and Hay Festival. She was selected by the British Council to represent the UK in Science Alive in Hong Kong.{{Cite news|url=http://yp.scmp.com/news/science/article/103072/dr-clare-burrage-takes-science-dark-side|title=Dr Clare Burrage takes science to the dark side|work=Young Post {{!}} South China Morning Post|access-date=2018-06-12|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishcouncil.hk/en/about/press/science-alive-2016-discover-science-our-daily-lives|title=Science Alive 2016: Discover science in our daily lives {{!}} British Council|website=www.britishcouncil.hk|language=en|access-date=2018-06-12}} She has taken part in the award-winning physics video series Sixty Symbols.{{Citation|last=Sixty Symbols|title=Shining Light Through Walls - Sixty Symbols|date=2015-02-13|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VxcTXud-Tg|accessdate=2018-06-12}}{{Citation|last=Sixty Symbols|title=Chameleon Particles and Dark Energy - Sixty Symbols|date=2015-05-01|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsBACIstuTI|accessdate=2018-06-12}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/feb/15/dark-matter-an-axion-to-grind|title=Dark Matter: an Axion to grind? {{!}} Jon Butterworth {{!}} Life & Physics|last=Butterworth|first=Jon|date=2015-02-15|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-06-12}}
Burrage was interviewed by Morgan Freeman in season 2 of Through the Wormhole.
References
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Category:British particle physicists
Category:21st-century British physicists
Category:British women physicists
Category:British expatriates in Switzerland
Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Category:British theoretical physicists
Category:British science communicators
Category:21st-century British women scientists