| Helga Rafelski | |
| Birth Name: | Helga Ernestine Betz |
| Birth Date: | September 3, 1949 |
| Death Place: | Tucson, Arizona |
| Nationality: | German |
| Alma Mater: | Cape Town University, University of Illinois at Chicago |
| Workplaces: | Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main |
| Thesis Title: | Muon regeneration in muon catalyzed dt-fusion |
| Thesis Year: | 1988 |
| Doctoral Advisor: | Raoul D. Viollier |
| Spouse: | Johann Rafelski |
| Children: | Marc Rafelski, Susanne Rafelski |
Helga Ernestine Rafelski, (née Betz) (3 September 1949 – 5 November 2000[1]) was a German particle physicist. She got her professional degree from Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main,[2] her master's degree from University of Illinois at Chicago in 1977 and her PhD from University of Cape Town in 1988 under the advisement of Raoul D. Viollier.[3] [4] She studied muon-catalysed fusion and relativistic heavy-ion collisions.
Returning from South Africa, Rafelski held a visiting position at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main where she worked with Berndt Müller.[5] In-between other appointments she was a scientific associate at CERN in the Data Handling Division.[6]
Her last position was as a computer science teacher at Catalina Foothills High School in Tucson.[7]
Helga Rafelski sadly died of cancer in November 2000 in Tucson, Arizona.