Astroparticle physics - The European Roadmap Draft 21 November 2011
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Astroparticle physics
The European Roadmap
Draft 21 November 2011
www.aspera-eu.org
Illustration credits
Cover:
ASPERA/ESA/Novapix/L.Bret Science Advisory
Committee (SAC):
p2 & 3:
Map & lens: ASPERA Ad M. van den Berg Table of contents
Roberto Battiston
p4 & 5: Laura Baudis Did you say
MAGIC: R. Wagner / MPI Munich
RX J1713.7-3946: H.E.S.S /ASCA satel
lite Jose Bernabeu «astroparticle physics»?
: MPI/ W.Be nger -ZIB > p2
GW simu lation
h Daniel Bertrand
Dark matter: NASA, ESA, Massey/Caltec
Kamioka obs, ICRR , Univ of Toky o Pierre Binetruy
A century of exploration &
Supe rK:
Supernova 1572: NASA John Carr
Cosmic ray shower: ASPERA/Noavapix/L
.Bret
Enrique Fernandez discoveries
> p4
p6 & 7: Francesco Fidecaro
Galaxy: Hubble Heritage/NASA Gilles Gerbier
Ge detectors: Edelweiss collaboration/
CNRS
Andrea Giuliani Current experiments & near
Double-Chooz: CEA/Irfu
Virgo: INFN Andreas Haungs future upgrades
AMS: NASA > p6
Werner Hofmann
Steven Kahn
p8 & 9: CTA: the next large scale
Black hole: NASA/Dana Berry, SkyWorks
Digital Uli Katz
CTA: ASPERA/D. Rouable Paul Kooijman infrastructure
H.E.S.S: H.E.S.S collaboration > p8
Detection principle: ASPERA Hans Kraus
Antoine Letessier-Selvon
p10 & 11: Manel Martinez Near future large
KM3NeT & Auger: ASPERA/A.Saftoiu scale infrastructures
LIDO: Lido Benoit Mours > p10
Gamma ray burst: ESO/L.Calcada Lothar Oberauer
Rene Ong
p12 & 13: Michał Ostrowski Long term & global large
LAGUNA: ASPERA/A.Saftoiu
ET: Einstein Telescope collaboration Sheila Rowan infrastructures
LISA: ESA > p12
Subir Sarkar
p14 & 15: Stefan Schönert
WMAP CMB: NASA Günter Sigl Cosmology, theory & links
CMS detector: CERN
Ion Siotis to LHC physics
LSST: LSST corporation > p14
Theorist: CERN Christian Spiering (Chair)
Robert Svoboda
p16 & 17: Francesco Vissani Environmental activities &
Photomultipliers: Kael Hanson/NSF societal impact
Gran Sasso Laboratory: INFN/Volker Stege
r Lucia Votano > p16
CERN@School: CERN Roland Walter
Astroparticle physics 1
The European Roadmap
The way to the 2011 Roadmap also includes the next generation
high-energy neutrino telescope in
During the past decade, three The SAC recommendations are the Mediterranean Sea (KM3NeT)
Nobel prizes have been awarded classified along essentially three and a global next-genera-
to physicists working in areas close categories: a) medium scale tion cosmic ray ground-based
to astroparticle physics - solar and projects or medium scale upgrades observatory following the
supernova neutrinos (2002), cosmic being currently at different stages footsteps of the Pierre Auger
microwave background fluctua- of realization and which are Observatory in Argentina.
tions (2006), and acceleration of recommended unconditionally for
the Universe (2011) - demonstra- realization, b) large scale projects In the third category, a megaton-
ting the relevance and vitality whose construction needs to start scale detector (design study
of this field. After the opening towards the middle or the end of LAGUNA), with goals ranging from
of the observational window of the current decade and c) very large low-energy neutrino astrophysics
low-energy cosmic neutrinos, high infrastructures at the interface of to fundamental searches without
energy gamma-rays also opened astroparticle physics and its neigh- accelerators (e.g. search for proton
a new panaroma of the Universet bouring disciplines: particle physics decay) and accelerator driven
on the Universe. Other domains of and astrophysics or cosmology. neutrino physics, can be developed
astroparticle physics have only in a global context and clearly
progressed to levels of sensitivity, The first category includes gravi- lies at the interface between the
which make likely analogous tational wave advanced detectors, Astroparticle Physics Roadmap
ground breaking discoveries in where a discovery in the next five and the CERN European Strategy
the near future. In view of this years becomes highly probable Update. This category also includes
remarkable progress and of the and would open an entirely new longer range programmes, such as
need for an increased coordination window to the Universe. It also the Dark Energy surveys like the
and networking on a global scale, includes dark matter searches, recently chosen Cosmic Vision ESA
the ASPERA Governing Board and where the WIMP hypothesis will satellite EUCLID or the US ground-
the ApPEC steering committee be proven or disproven within based LSST observatory, and more
have charged the common the next 10 years, and neutrino advanced gravitational wave
Scientific Advisory Committee property measurements, searching detection antennas, like the next
(SAC) to update its 2008 European for neutrino-less double beta decay generation Earth-bound Einstein
Strategy for Astroparticle Physics. or measuring the neutrino mass via Telescope (ET) or space-bound
single beta decay. LISA. ET construction would start
The updated roadmap document after the first detection of gravi-
of SAC has been endorsed by the The second category includes tational waves with the advanced
above bodies. the TeV gamma-ray astrophy- detectors, whereas LISA relies on
sics observatory under the name the success of the LISA-Pathfinder
Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), technological mission.
a worldwide high priority project,
aiming at a start of construction The above projects are presented in
before the middle of the decade. It more detail in the following pages.
www.aspera-eu.org
Did you say «astropar ticle
2
A new field
Astroparticle physics is a rapidly
growing field of research
emerging from the convergence
of physics at the smallest
and the largest scales of the
universe, at the intersection
of particle physics, astronomy, and
cosmology.
As the field develops, it is expected
to open up new observing
windows to explore the dark,
extreme, and violent cosmos.
The past two decades have
seen the development of the tech-
nologies to address these questions
with a dramatically increased
sensitivity. For several of the Bringing together the European community
questions we are at the threshold ASPERA
Currently, about 3000members
European astroparticle physicists areAssociates
working in the
of exciting discoveries which will
field, in over 50 laboratories.
open new horizons. However, the
high cost of frontline astroparticle In 2001, ApPEC (Astroparticle Physics European Coordination) was
projects requires international colla- founded as an interest grouping of several European scientific
boration, as does the realisation agencies, in order to promote cooperation and coordination. Since
of the infrastructure. Cubic-kilo- 2006 it has been flanked by ASPERA, a European Union ERANET project.
metre neutrino telescopes, large ASPERA is a European network of national government agencies
gamma ray observatories, Megaton responsible for coordinating and funding national research efforts in
detectors for proton decay, or astroparticle physics.
ultimate low-temperature devices
to search for dark matter particles In 2008, a first European strategy for astroparticle physics was presented
or neutrino-less double beta decay by the ASPERA roadmap committee, describing the status and desirable
are at the hundred million Euro large infrastructures for the next decade. The process included several
scale. Cooperation is the only way meetings, encompassing the whole community.
to achieve the critical mass for
projects which require budgets and Furthermore, ASPERA tries to enable interdisciplinary activities with envi-
manpower not available to a single ronmental sciences, cooperation with small and medium enterprises and
nation, to avoid duplication of develops European common calls for R&D and design studies in the field
resources and infrastructure, and to of astroparticle physics.
keep Europe in a leading position.
physics»? 3
W h a t is d ar k m a tt e r ?
w Ha t i s d a r k e n E r g y?
W h e r e d o c Os m i c r ay s
c o me f r o m?
W h a T do e s T he s k y l o o k
l i k e a t h i g h e s t e n er g i es ?
W ha t i s t h e r o l e of
n e u t r i n o s i n c o s mi c e v ol u t i o n ?
wha t d o neu t r i nos t e l l u s
a b o ut t h e i n t e r i or o f st ars ?
w h a t i s t he n a t u re o f
Gr a v i t y ?
Do p r o t on s h a ve a
f i n i t e l i f e - t i me ?
www.aspera-eu.org
A centur y of exploration
4
New messengers
The opening of two new windows
to the universe is among the
spectacular successes of astropar-
ticle physics of the last 25 years:
the neutrino window (the Sun
and a supernova) and the window
of high-energy gamma rays. The
study of cosmic neutrinos also
revealed that neutrinos have a
mass, with fundamental conse-
quences for the role of these
particles in cosmic evolution.
Astronomers and physicists have
discovered that the expansion of Violent universe: one of the two large atmospheric imaging Cherenkov telescopes of the
<
<
the Universe accelerates. Other research infrastructure MAGIC located in the Canary Islands. It is equipped with a mirror surface
branches of astroparticle physics of 236 m2. Below is a picture of RX J1713.7-3946 as seen through the eyes of H.E.S.S. in Namibia,
showing clearly high-energy particle acceleration in the shell of this supernova remnant. Both MAGIC
have progressed to levels of and H.E.S.S. probe the universe at very high energies.
sensitivity that make analogous
groundbreaking discoveries likely
in the near future. This applies
to the detection of gravitational
waves and dark matter particles,
the origin of high energy cosmic
rays and neutrinos, the determina-
tion of the neutrino mass or, later,
the observation of proton decay
and the understanding of dark
The discovery of gravitational waves would open
<
energy.
a new way to study the most violent phenmonena in
the cosmos.
19 1 2 : di sc ov er y of co sm ic ra ys 1930: discovery of
er gy ga m m a ra ys 19 87 : Ne utrino detection
first source of high-en
1956: discovery of neutr inos
n 1965:
& discoveries 5
< Caption on dark matter...
This composite shows normal matter in red,
dark matter as seen by indirect detection in
blue and stars and galaxies in grey.
Supernova 1572, known as Tycho’s
<
Supernova, is seen here as a composite picture
of different images from x-rays to infrared
wavelength, reflecting the potential of multi-
messenger astronomy.
Cosmic rays Cosmic rays are protons and
<
atomic nuclei that travel across the Universe at
close to the speed of light. When these particles
smash into the upper atmosphere, they create
a cascade of secondary particles, called an air
shower. We still don’t know where cosmic rays
exactly come from.
Super Kamiokande: mounting of photomultpliers on top of the Super Kamiokande detector in
<
Japan. This is the successor of the Kamiokande experiment that in 1987 detected for the first time
neutrinos from a supernova.
cosmic ray showers 1989: discovery of the
from Supernova SN 1987A 1932: discovery of positron e+
discovery of the cosmic microwave background ...
www.aspera-eu.org
Curre n t e x p e r im e n t s &
6
Dark matter
With the advent of the LHC and
thanks to a new generation of
astroparticle experiments that
The current astroparticle physics use direct and indirect detection
programme includes medium methods, the well-motivated
scale projects or upgrades at SUSY-WIMP dark matter hypothesis
different stages of realization, will be proven or disproven within About EURECA
whose funding has to be kept at the next 5-10 years. EURECA is a European project
at substantial levels, for different using cryogenic detectors at a
reasons: some of these projects The annual modulation signal
observed by DAMA/LIBRA, and temperature of a few millikelvin
just entered a phase with high for dark matter search.
discovery potential; some go its interpretation in terms of
hand in hand with LHC physics; dark matter interactions, will It is based on the expertise
others are technologically ready also be scrutinized in the next of two cutting edge running
and have a worldwide community years. The dramatic progress of experiments: CRESST and
behind them. For a last category, the liquid-xenon technology EDELWEISS.
a delay of crucial decisions and over the past 2-3 years demons-
funding could even jeopardize trates a high momentum, which EURECA is presently in its Design
jeopardize them as projects. must be maintained. The recently Study phase (2009-2012),
approved XENON1T at Gran supported financially by several
Sasso laboratory is expected of the ASPERA funding insti-
to start operation in 2014/15. tutions. The Design Study will
define the key options of the
The bolometric experiments project.
CDMS and Edelweiss have recently
provided upper limits close to those In 2013, construction work within
of XENON100 and move towards its first phase involving 150 kg
a closer US-Europe coordination. of detectors wil start. A second
A next global step would be a phase of the EURECA experiment,
ton-scale detector, EURECA. Looking beginning in 2016, will involve up
beyond the scale of one ton, a to one ton of cryogenic detectors,
programme extending the target with extended measurement
mass of noble liquids to several tons duration of at least five years.
is envisaged with DARWIN.
ctor
Photo of the Double Chooz inner dete
<
been
First arguments for dark matter have located near by a nuclear power plant in the
<
Swiss scientist Fritz Zwic ky
derived by the French Ardennes.
ements
in 1933, after evaluation of the mov
for
of galaxies in larger clusters. In the
70s, the Aerial view of the Virgo detector
near future upgrades 7
Neutrino properties
Several experiments in Europe are astronauts from the
e Station, just after it was deployed by
either in the commissioning phase AMS-02 onboard the Iinternational Spac will provide the spec trum of cosmic rays
in the universe and
or in the final years of construction: Shuttle. AMS is looking for antimatter
withy an unprecedented precision.
GERDA, CUORE and the demons-
trator for SuperNEMO will search
for neutrino-less double beta decay
and KATRIN for neutrino mass
via single beta decay. Double
CHOOZ, a nuclear reactor
experiment, is studying neutrino
oscillations. The mentioned Cosmic rays at
experiments build on a long medium energies
experience and validation with Gravitational waves
precursors. They have been After its successful launch, the
recently joined by NEXT, a new AMS detector will provide a
With advanced VIRGO, advanced
approach developed for the search wealth of new data on cosmic
LIGO and GEO-HF, a centennial
for double beta decay. The road ray composition and antimatter
discovery in the next five years
towards double beta experiments in space. At the same time, novel
becomes highly probable with
covering full mass range charac- detectors at ground level will
the ongoing and planned
teristics for the inverted mass extend cosmic ray measurements
upgrades to advanced detectors.
hierarchy, depends on the close to the energies covered by
This would open an entirely new
results of the current generation space experiments.
window to the Universe.
experiments.
www.aspera-eu.org
CTA: the next large scale
8
CTA: towards a new era of
gamma-ray astronomy
The Cherenkov Telescope Array
(CTA) is the worldwide priority
project for TeV gamma-ray astro-
physics. It combines proven
technological feasibility with a
guaranteed scientific perspective.
The CTA project is an initiative to
build the next generation ground-
based very high energy gamma-ray
instrument. It will serve as an open
observatory to a wide astrophy-
sics community and will provide a
deep insight into the non-thermal
10 000 000 times the LHC? Black holes are thought to be places of intense particle acceleration in
<
the vicinity of jets, such as those shown in this artistic view. CTA will allow the study of such regions high-energy universe.
with unprecedented precision.
Its mode of operation and the
wealth of data are similar to
mainstream astronomy. The
design and prototypes of CTA,, as
Probing the high-energy universe...
The Universe is full of high energy particles. They come from
violent phenomena such as remnants of supernova explosions,
binary stars, jets around black holes in distant galaxies and star
formation regions in our own Galaxy. Hunting for such particles
can help us to understand not only what is going on inside these
cosmic bodies, but also answer fundamental physics questions,
such as the nature of dark matter and gravity.
Current involved countries:
around the world have already come
Some 800 scientists from 25 countries
e Array: Argentina, Armenia, Austria,
together to build the Cherenkov Telescop
c, Finland , France, Germany, Greece,
Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republi ,
erlands, Poland, Slovenia, South Africa
India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Namibia , Neth ed States of Ame rica
dom and Unit
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kinginfrastructure 9
well as the selection of the site(s),
are aiming at a start of construc-
tion before the middle of the
decade.
The CTA Project is currently in its
preparatory phase, which started
in 2010 and will last for 3 years.
During this time, prototype
telescopes and telescope parts
are being built and evaluated,
Artistic view of CTA. The cherenkov telescope array will be composed of telescopes of different
<
the administrative structures size that will allow to detect gamma rays at different energies.
necessary for the smooth
operation of the array are being
created, and the sites are being Extending an improved technology
studied using long-term satellite
Current ground-based gamma-ray telescopes such as H.E.S.S., MAGIC and
weather archives and specific
VERITAS have brought a breakthrough using the imaging atmospheric
monitoring.
Cherenkov technique. However, we have now reached the limit of what
can be done with current instruments. The CTA project is an initiative to
build a ground-based gamma-ray telescope of the next generation, that
will include an array of dozens of telescopes.
CTA will offer an increase in sensitivity of between a factor of 5 and 10
over current instruments, and extend the energy range of gamma rays
observed. It is expected that the catalogue of known very high energy
emitting objects will extend from the 130 that are currently known, to
over 1000. Thus, we we can expect many new discoveries in key areas of
astronomy, astrophysics and fundamental physics research.
With its user-oriented mode of operation and its wealth of data, CTA
will become similar to mainstream astronomy and provide data for a
wide community and - together with gravitational wave, cosmic ray
and neutrino observations - in a multi-messenger context.
detecting gamma-rays
, but we can reveal their presence by
High-energy particles are hard to trace ays do not penetrate
<
ma-r
lower-energy cousins - X-rays - gam
that are associated with them. Like their them from the grou nd via the flashes of
it is possible to detect
the Earth’s atmosphere. But luckily,
re, known as Cherenkov radiation.
blue light they create in the atmosphe
< The H.E.S.S. telescopes in Namibia, work on this principle.
www.aspera-eu.orgNea r f u t u re la rg e s c a le
10
Towards high-energy
neutrino astronomy
KM3NeT is the next generation
high-energy neutrino telescope to
be built in the Mediterranean Sea.
It must have sensitivity substan-
tially larger than that of IceCube,
the neutrino telescope operating
in Antarctica.
The KM3NeT collaboration
produced a corresponding
Artistic view of KM3NeT. It will be composed of thousands of photomultipliers, looking for high- technical design report, funded
<
energy neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources in the deep sea. by the European Commission
Preparatory Phase programme.
The technology definition is in
What is KMNeT? its final stages with prototype
deployment within the next two
KM3NeT, an European deep-sea research infrastructure, will host a neutrino years, and eventual access to
telescope with a volume of several cubic kilometres at the bottom of the deep-sea research. KM3NeT is
Mediterranean Sea, aiming to open a new window to the Universe. included in the ESFRI roadmap of
European research infrastructures.
The telescope will search for neutrinos from distant astrophysical
sources like supernova remnants, microquasars or gamma-ray bursters.
It will also search for exotic phenomena like dark matter or super-heavy LIDO is a platform for listening to the deep
<
particles. sea environment, making use of undersea
astroparticle physics infrastructures.
An array of thousands of optical sensors will detect the faint light in the
deep sea from charged particles originating from collisions between
neutrinos and the Earth.
The facility will also house instrumentation for geo- and marine sciences,
aiming for long-term online monitoring of the deep sea environment
and the sea bottom at a depth of several kilometers.
Current involved countries:
, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands,
Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece
Romania, Spain, United Kingdominfrastructures 11
About neutrinos
With the exception of solar
neutrinos and a handful
of events detected as a
coincidence with explosion
of the supernova SN1987A,
no other extra-terrestrial
neutrinos has been detected
so far. High-energy neutrinos
are expected to be produced
in cataclysmic events where Artistic view of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The Pierre Auger Observatory takes its name from
<
the French physicist who discovered the existence of cosmic rays showers.
particles are accelerated up
to energies of the order of a
million times higher than in the The Pierre Auger Observatory: the cosmic rays’ window
LHC at CERN in Geneva, the most
powerful accelerator ever built. Following the footsteps of the that can spread across 40 or more
Colliding galaxies, gamma-ray Pierre Auger Observatory in square kilometers as they reach
bursts shining about a million Argentina, a global enlarged the Earth’s surface.
trillion times brighter than the ground-based observatory is a
Sun, active galaxies which spew priority project for high-energy The Pierre Auger Observatory
out vast amounts of energy and cosmic ray physics, with a records cosmic ray showers
host vampire black holes are substantial contribution from through an array of 1,600 particle
all candidate sources of high- Europe. The preparations detectors placed 1.5 kilometers apart
energy neutrinos. Neutrinos, include the development of new in a grid spread across 3,000 square
once generated, traverse detection technologies, the search kilometers. Twenty-four specially
our Universe essentially without for appropriate sites, and the designed telescopes record the
interaction and without being attraction of new partners. emission of fluorescence light from
deflected so they will allow us the air shower. The combination of
to gather pieces of information When cosmic rays smash into the particle detectors and fluorescence
on the most violent cosmic upper atmosphere of our planet, telescopes provides an exceptio-
processes not accessible to other they create a cascade of secondary nally powerful instrument for this
methods. particles, called an air shower, type of research.
Current involved countries:
world have come
About 400 scientists from around the
aboration:
together within the Pierre Auger coll
a, Boli via, Braz il, Cro atia, Czech
Argentina, Australi
ico,
Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Mex
Port uga l, Rom ania ,
Netherlands, Poland,
Slovenia, Spain, Uni ted King dom ,
United States of America and Vietnam
www.aspera-eu.orgLon g te r m & g lo b a l
12
Deeper in neutrino physics
The goals of a megaton-scale
detector as addressed by the
design studies LAGUNA range
from low-energy neutrino astro-
physics (e.g. supernova, solar,
geo- and atmospheric neutrinos)
to fundamental searches without
accelerators (e.g. search for proton
decay) and accelerator driven
physics (e.g. neutrino oscillations
and study of charge-parity (CP)
violation). Artistic inner view of a LAGUNA-like detector, a huge underground tank whose walls are covered
<
with thousands of photmultipliers.
Due to its high cost, the program
can be developed only in a global What is LAGUNA?
context; furthermore the timing
of its realization depends strongly The principal goal of LAGUNA (Large Apparatus for Grand Unification
on whether the indications for and Neutrino Astrophysics) is to assess the feasibility of a new pan-
the mixing parameter defined as European research infrastructure able to host the next generation,
θ13 will be confirmed within the very large volume, deep underground neutrino observatory. The
next one or two years, permitting scientific goals of such an observatory combine exciting neutrino
a series of very exciting measure- astrophysics with research addressing several fundamental questions
ments for neutrino mass hierarchy such as proton decay and the existence of a new source of matter-
and CP violation using CERN antimatter asymmetry in nature, in order to explain why our Universe
beams. contains only matter and not equal amounts of matter and antimatter.
LAGUNA is clearly at the interface The LAGUNA-LBNO design study includes the study of long baseline
with the CERN European Strategy neutrino beams from CERN accelerators. When coupled to such a
Update
Web palette:
to be delivered early 2013,
CMJN 50/100/10/0 neutrino beam, the neutrino observatory will measure with unprece-
CMJN 90/50/
where
0/10
it represents a high-priority dented sensitivity neutrino flavor oscillation phenomena and possibly
#f9db21 #fafafa
#73accd #d296c5
unveil the existence of CP violation in the leptonic sector.
#0064a8 #ad4797
CMJN 5/10/90/0 #961075
astroparticle project.
Current involved countries:
ions from:
scientists, CERN and 38 other institut
LAGUNA-LBNO brings together 300 Spa in,
n, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Japa
United Kingdom and Switzerland.larg e in f r a s t r u c t u re s 13
Einstein Telescope
The path for research in gravita-
tional waves beyond advanced
detectors foresees two projects of
a very large scale: the Earth-bound
Einstein Telescope (ET) and the
space-bound LISA project. ET
construction will start at the
end of this decade, after the first
detection of gravitational waves
with the advanced detectors and
following successful R&D. The LISA
project, for which preparatory work
in on-going, would eventually rely
on the success of the technological
Artistic view of ET, composed by three superposed interferometric detectors arranged under- mission LISA-Pathfinder.
<
ground in a triangle. Each interferometer has two 10 km arms.
Towards a global approach
Infrastructures such as LAGUNA and the EINSTEIN Telscope will require a global approach, which will be the
only way to fund very large projects.
It is in this spirit that the OECD Astroparticle Physics International Forum (APIF) was created. In the same way
as ASPERA and ApPEC are playing this role at the European level, APIF brings together officials and represen-
tatives of funding agencies of countries that make significant investments in astroparticle physics research.
APIF is a venue for information exchange, analysis, and coordination, with special emphasis on strengthening
international cooperation, especially for large programmes and infrastructures.
APIF members can address issues that are the special responsibility of funding agencies, for example, legal,
administrative and managerial arrangements for international projects. They may also consider matters such
as access to experimental facilities and data, procurement of essential materials, and optimal use of resources
on a global scale.
Current involved countries:
United Kingdom.
France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands,
www.aspera-eu.orgCos m o lo g y, t h e o r y &
14
particles are favorite candidates for
dark matter and could be generated
at the LHC. The discovery of a SUSY
particle at the LHC alone does not
prove that it constitutes dark matter.
For that purpose, the detection of
cosmological dark matter particles
in direct or indirect searches is
necessary. Conversely, the detection
of cosmological dark matter
particles alone would not prove
that they are SUSY particles. For that
purpose, identification and investi-
gation at accelerators is necessary.
The synergy between LHC and next
generation dark matter searches
is obvious and opens an exciting
Links to LHC perspective.
The precise measurement of cross
sections at the LHC provides a long
awaited input to the understanding
of air showers from cosmic rays.
Several LHC detectors have been
tailored to study particles emitted
under very small angles. This is a
region of particular interest for the
simulation of cosmic air showers.
LHC extends the available data
to energies typical for the most
powerful galactic sources.
The most spectacular arc between
astroparticle physics and physics
at the LHC is the search for dark
matter candidates. Supersymmetric
the
Different colours mark fluctuation of
ic Micr owav e Back grou nd (CMB ) as measured by the WMAP satellite.
Map of the Cosm
<
universe.
considered as a view of the very early
brightness of the CMB. This picture is
the accelerator-based experiments
CERN . Look ing at part icle colli sion s produced by the LHC, CMS is one of
<
The CMS experiment at
rsymmetric particles.
that could detect dark matter supelinks to LHC physics 15
Cosmology & dark energy
The 2011 Nobel Prize for physics
has been awarded for the
discovery of the accelerated
expansion of the Universe – the
first hint to something like “dark
energy”. This riddle is presently
being tackled with traditional astro-
physical methods, but astroparticle
physicists have been engaged in
the field since the beginning. They
contributed their experience of
handling large data sets and with
cutting-edge technologies.
The next flagship projects in this
field are the ground-based LSST
project (2019), with US-leadership
and strong European participation,
and the recently chosen Cosmic
Vision ESA satellite EUCLID (2019).
In addition, expected results from Theory plans for the next-generation
the Eureopean Planck satellite astroparticle experiments in
will offer important inputs in the Theoretical research often Europe, the associated theoretical
fortcoming years. motivates experimental projects, activities – apart from project-
links distinct sub-fields of specific analysis and computing
astroparticle physics, and is indis- activities – need stronger support
pensable when experimental and coordination.
data have to be interpreted in the
context of models, be it in terms of
possible signals or as constraints.
In parallel with the ambitious
ey
Artisic view of the Large Synoptic Surv
<
Telescope project (LSST ).
www.aspera-eu.orgEnvironmental ac tivities
16
of astroparticle physics infrastruc-
Synergies tures, scientists from the associated
fields are capable of deploying
Technology sensors in remote or hostile envi-
Astroparticle Physics research
infrastructures, whether located ronments (ice, deep sea and deep
The next generation detectors
underground (underground underground), something which
included in this roadmap will need a
laboratories), underwater/ice would be by definition a difficult
total investment estimated around
(neutrino telescopes), or on the and costly task if they were working
1.5 Billion Euros over the next
ground (air-shower detectors), use on their own.
decade and the scientific goals
require unprecedented R&D efforts. their environment as a detecting
The use of astroparticle physics
medium. Accurate knowledge
infrastructures by multiple
Technological challenges on and monitoring of its properties
disciplines is not just a wise and
optical components such as is therefore essential to precisely
efficient use of resources, but fosters
mirrors, lenses, lasers, photo- determine the characteristics of
the creation of new ideas that only
multipliers are of decisive the cosmic messenger particles
happen at discipline intersections,
importance in the different areas they are looking for.
leading in this way to scientific
of astroparticle physics. advancements in a great range
As a result a large number of strong
synergies have been developed fields: from earthquake prediction
To address these challenges,
between astroparticle physics and to wine dating, from space weather
ASPERA brings together the
other sciences (geological, environ to microbiology, from volcano
community and industry through
mental, biological, and many more). geology to sperm whale sound
the organisation of technology
The competence developed by monitoring, from temperature
forums. Such activities must be
astroparticle physisists in complex variation detection to biofouling,
continued in the future to develop
sensing systems, the technolo- and many more.
further close relationships
between physicists and industrials. gies they have developed for the
In addition, the emerging complex
processing of large quantities
global challenges, such as climate
of extremely pure and/or exotic
R&D and smaller projects change, energy, biodiversity and
materials, as well as the advanced
geohazards, demand a more
systems for data acquisition,
Smaller projects and innovative integrated approach that has not
processing, and dissemination
R&D activities are essential been achieved so far, but could
that they have designed, have all
for the progress of the field be achieved if members of the
lead to great advances, not only
and should also be supported associated communities would
for astroparticle physics but in
in the framework of interna- promote collaborations around
other disciplines as well. Especially
tional co-operation, including astroparticle physics research
advantageous is the fact that
common calls. infrastructures.
through the use
to be
< Icecube Photomultiplier tubes waiting
integrated.
Gran
View into one the large halls of the
<
Sasso Laboratory in Italy.& societal impact 17
shows how much it is important to
coordinate more communications
at the European level to promote
the field. There is a specific need to
organise activities that will make
astroparticle physics important
milestones of current and future
experiments greatly visible in the
No cosmic rays
media. In this respect, it might be
useful that the future sustainable
body for astroparticle physics coor-
dination in Europe join the very
successful InterAction collaboration
with a full membership.
In addition, the development of
synergies for producing tools,
contents and events should
be pursued to stimulate and
Underground laboratories Outreach & education strengthen outreach activities
Astroparticle physics address very across all the different European
Underground laboratories are of countries. Supporting and coor-
fundamental questions like the
much interest for many activities dinating communications for the
origin and nature of matter and
beyond astroparticle physics, future astroparticle physics large
of the Universe, which challenge
particularly for geoscience and infrastructures is a challenge that
the imagination and curiosity of a
biodiversity researches. They should also be seen as a priority to
broad audience. The cutting-edge
also provide the appropriate promote them widely.
technology and the sometimes
environment for developments in
exotic locations add another factor
the domains of wine datation or On the education side, there is a
of fascination. This makes astropar-
electronics. strong interest of the community
ticle physics an ideal tool to get the
for developping high-school
Beyond the continuation of general public interested in basic
activities with cosmic ray detectors.
support to the Gran Sasso science. The support of activities
Support to such activities should
laboratory and the start of in education and outreach are
be encouraged and coordinated,
operations of the Canfranc therefore of growing importance
in close collaboration with other
laboratory, there is a unique for society and for the future of
networks such as IPPOG - the
window of opportunity to extend basic research.
International particle physics
the present Under-ground
The work started through ASPERA outreach group.
Laboratory of Modane.
LUCID
CERN@school students present
<
ray Intensity Detector) to be launched
(Cosmic
into space in 2012!
www.aspera-eu.orgPublished November 2011
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