Saori Pastore

Saori Pastore

Associate Chair and Professor of Physics
PhD, Old Dominion University
BS, Università degli Studi di Lecce
research interests:
  • Theoretical Nuclear Physics

contact info:

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mailing address:

  • Washington University
    MSC 1105-109-03
    One Brookings Drive
    St. Louis, MO 63130-4899

Professor Pastore's research is focused on understanding how nuclear properties emerge from the underlying nucleonic dynamics, with the broader goal of contributing to ongoing experimental efforts in nuclear physics, fundamental symmetries, and neutrino physics.

This research requires an accurate understanding of nucleonic interactions and how nuclei interact with external probes including photons, electrons, and neutrinos. It also requires the capability of solving for the structure and dynamics of the strongly-correlated many-body problem for nuclei. Pastore uses chiral effective field theories and phenomenological approaches to construct nuclear interactions and currents, and Quantum Monte Carlo methods to solve for the nuclear structure and dynamics.

The broader goal of Pastore's research is to contribute to ongoing experimental efforts addressing open questions in nuclear physics and their connections to physics more generally. These more general questions include discovering the fundamental nature of neutrinos, identifying the particle nature of dark matter, and understanding the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. These efforts are important to many  experiments in the national nuclear and particle physics program, including FRIB, neutrinoless double-beta decay, DUNE, and Jefferson Lab.

Prior to her arrival at Washington University in 2018, Pastore conducted postdoctoral research at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Theoretical Division T2.

recent courses

Quantum Mechanics II (Physics 524)

Review of wave mechanics, scattering theory. Measurement algebra and the foundations of nonrelativistic quantum theory.Mathematical techniques for solution, perturbation theory.Applications to atomic, molecular, nuclear, and solid state problems. Introduction to relativistic quantum theory and quantized wave fields.

Quantum Mechanics (Physics 471)

Origins of quantum theory, wave packets and uncertainty relations, Schroedinger's equation, eigenfunctions and eigenvalues, Schroedinger's equation in three dimensions, formalism of quantum mechanics, symmetry, spin and the periodic table, approximation methods for time independent problems, scattering, quantum statistics.

Selected Publications

A new leading contribution to neutrinoless double-beta decay 
V. Cirigliano, W. Dekens, J. de Vries, M. L. Graesser, E. Mereghetti, S. Pastore, U. van Kolck
Phys. Rev. Lett.120, 202001

Neutrinoless double beta decay matrix elements in light nuclei 
S. Pastore, J. Carlson, V. Cirigliano, W. Dekens, E. Mereghetti, R.B. Wiringa 
Phys. Rev. C 97, 014006 (2018)

Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of weak transitions in A=6--10 nuclei 
S. Pastore, A. Baroni, J. Carlson, S. Gandolfi, Steven C. Pieper, R. Schiavilla, R.B. Wiringa 
Phys. Rev. C 97, 022501 (2018)

Electromagnetic structure of light nuclei 
Saori Pastore
EPJ2016 arXiv:1508.07363

Nuclear axial currents in chiral effective field theory 
A. Baroni, L. Girlanda, S. Pastore, R. Schiavilla, and M. Viviani 
Phys. Rev. C 93, 015501 (2016) [32 pages]

Electromagnetic reactions on light nuclei 
Sonia Bacca and Saori Pastore
J. Phys. G: Nucl. Phys. 41 123002 (2014) [72 pages]
arXiv:1407.3490

Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of electromagnetic transitions in 8Be with meson-exchange currents derived from chiral effective field theory 
S. Pastore, R. B. Wiringa, S. C. Pieper, and R. Schiavilla 
Phys. Rev. C 90, 024321 (2014) [12 pages]

An update of muon capture on hydrogen 
S. Pastore, F. Myhrer, and K. Kubodera
Int. J. of Mod. Phys. E 23, 1430010 (2014) [14 pages]

The muon capture rate on hydrogen and the values of gA and gπNN 
S. Pastore, F. Myhrer, and K. Kubodera
Phys. Rev. C 88, 058501 (2013) [3 pages]

Charge-symmetry breaking forces and isospin mixing in 8Be 
R. B. Wiringa, S. Pastore, Steven C. Pieper, and Gerald A. Miller
Phys. Rev. C 88, 044333 (2013) [8 pages]

Electromagnetic transition from the 4+ to 2+ resonance in 8Be measured via the radiative capture in 4He+4He 
V. M. Datar, D. R. Chakrabarty, Suresh Kumar, V. Nanal, S. Pastore, R. B. Wiringa, S. P. Behera, A. Chatterjee, D. Jenkins, C. J. Lister, E. T. Mirgule, A. Mitra, R. G. Pillay, K. Ramachandran, O. J. Roberts, P. C. Rout, A. Shrivastava, P. Sugathan 
Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 062502 (2013) [5 pages]

Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of electromagnetic moments and transitions in A ≤ 9 nuclei with meson-exchange currents derived from chiral effective field theory 
S. Pastore, S. C. Pieper, R. Schiavilla, and R. B. Wiringa 
Phys. Rev. C 87, 035503 (2013) [15 pages]

Electromagnetic structure of A=2 and 3 nuclei in chiral effective field theory 
M. Piarulli, L. Girlanda, L. E. Marcucci, S. Pastore, R. Schiavilla, and M. Viviani 
Phys. Rev. C 87, 014006 (2013) [24 pages]

Two-nucleon electromagnetic charge operator in chiral effective field theory (χEFT) up to one loop 
S. Pastore, L. Girlanda, R. Schiavilla, and M. Viviani 
Phys. Rev. C 84, 024001 (2011) [15 pages]

Thermal neutron captures on d and 3He 
Luca Girlanda, Alejandro Kievsky, Laura E. Marcucci, Saori Pastore, Rocco Schiavilla, and Michele Viviani 
Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 232502 (2010) [4 pages]

Relativity constraints on the two-nucleon contact interaction 
Luca Girlanda, Saori Pastore, Rocco Schiavilla, and Michele Viviani 
Phys. Rev. C 81, 034005 (2010) [9 pages]

Electromagnetic Currents and Magnetic Moments in χEFT 
Saori Pastore, Luca Girlanda, Rocco Schiavilla, and Robert B. Wiringa
Phys. Rev. C 80, 034004 (2009) [22 pages]

Electromagnetic two-body currents of one- and two-pion range 
Saori Pastore, Rocco Schiavilla, and José L. Goity 
Phys. Rev. C 78, 064002 (2008) [25 pages]