Episodio 6: "Voi non potete capire"
Summary
This episode of Atomica explores the mysterious disappearance of physicist Bruno Pontecorvo, who fled to the Soviet Union in 1950. Hosts Matteo Curti and Lorenzo Baravalle detail his life in Dubna, where he was isolated by Stalin’s regime while continuing his groundbreaking neutrino research. The narrative contrasts Western suspicions of him being an atomic spy with his actual scientific contributions and tragic loss of a potential Nobel Prize.
Topics discussed
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Introduction to Dubna and the podcast 'Atomica'
Pontecorvo's arrival in Moscow and house arrest
The Kremlin interrogation and suspicion of espionage
Transfer to Dubna and isolation from nuclear research
Western reaction and cover-up of Pontecorvo's disappearance
Pontecorvo's communist ideals and the mystery of his flight
Life in Dubna: surveillance and restricted identity
The physics of neutrinos and Pontecorvo's early work
Missed Nobel Prize opportunities due to Soviet isolation
The 1955 press conference and appeal for nuclear disarmament
Return to Italy in 1978 and denial of atomic bomb work
Fates of Fermi, Rasetti, Segre, Amaldi, and Majorana
Legacies of Oppenheimer and spy Klaus Fuchs
Pontecorvo's final years, Parkinson's, and death in Dubna
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