After a post doctoral fellowship at the
Harvard Society of Fellows from 1984-1987, Nelson became an assistant professor at Stanford University in 1987. In 1990 Nelson moved to
UC San Diego, and then in 1994 moved for the final time her career to the
University of Washington.[11]
Research
Nelson and her collaborators are known for a number of theories, including:
The Nelson–Barr mechanism, a proposed solution to the
strong CP problem. The theory was developed independently by Nelson and
Stephen Barr in 1984.[12] Nelson was a doctoral student at Harvard at the time.[3]
The theory of spontaneous
violation of CP (charge conjugation and parity symmetry), which may explain the origin of the asymmetry observed between matter and anti-matter.[13]
The theory of gauge-mediated
supersymmetry breaking, which accounts for how supersymmetry at short distances might be compatible with the absence of observed flavor-symmetry violation at long distances.[16]
The
little Higgs theory, which may explain why the Higgs boson must be relatively light.[17]
The theory of "accelerons", which relates neutrino masses to the
cosmological dark energy responsible for the relatively recent acceleration of the expansion of the universe.[18]
Personal life
Nelson was married to
David B. Kaplan, also a professor of physics at the University of Washington. She had been an active member of
The Mountaineers club in Seattle since 1994. She had two children.[19]
Nelson was an activist for equal rights throughout her life. In 1980, when graduating from Stanford University, she and her husband wore colored ribbons to protest Stanford's investments in
ApartheidSouth Africa. In 2017, she led physics lectures in
Palestine to support social justice and promote diversity in science fields around the world.[3] She advocated for greater
representation of women in physics research.[20]
Death
On August 4, 2019, while hiking
Iron Cap Mountain in the
Alpine Lakes Wilderness with her husband and two friends, Nelson lost her footing and died after falling into a rocky gully. Her husband and fellow hikers were rescued on August 4 by a
Spokane helicopter crew. Her body was recovered on August 6.[2][21][22]