Antonella De Ninno

What we can learn about water from vibrational spectroscopy (Abstract)

Antonella De Ninno received the degrees in Physics from the University “La Sapienza” of Rome in 1984. Since 1987 she is researcher at the ENEA research centre in Frascati, near Rome. Her experience ranges from solid state to nuclear physics. She is author of more than 80 research items (papers, chapters, conference papers and patents). She serves as reviewer in many international journals and has been tutor of several undergraduate and graduate thesis and fellowship.

Her initial interests were in solid state physics and, in particular in low temperature effects on materials and superconductivity.
In 1999-2002 she coordinated the ENEA Project “New Hydrogen Energy” on the nuclear properties of deuterium stored in solid lattices. The project was supervised by the Nobel laureate Carlo Rubbia, former President of ENEA.

The collaboration with two important Italian theoretical physicists, Giuliano Preparata and Emilio Del Giudice, started during the “New Hydrogen Energy” project, moves her towards the concept of quantum electrodynamics (QED) coherence in condensed matter. Such a theory allows an original approach to the supra-molecular structure of liquid water and its peculiar role in biology. Since then she worked on several experimental layout (FTIR, X-ray fluorescence, THz spectroscopy) with the aim to prove the two-fluids nature of liquid water. She is also interested in the effect of ions in the structural order of water. QED also provides an insight in physical mechanism of interaction between extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields and living systems. She is involved in research projects intended to detect such interactions as expected from the theory even in the perspective of practical applications.