Workshop on Particle Physics and Cosmology (ACCent)
Recent advances in observational astronomy have brought a new focus on the connections between fundamental particles and the early universe and its subsequent evolution. During very early times, the universe was devoid of any structures and contained only fundamental particles. In the process of expansion, the universe cooled down, dark matter was created and eventually the galaxies were born. Today, approximately fourteen billion years later, the universe is made of about 73% dark energy and 23% dark matter. The rest is ordinary matter that has composed us. Since the beginning of the universe was dominated by the fundamental particles, the quest to understand the universe has involved both particle physicists and cosmologists. The forthcoming ground- and space-based experiments (such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), PLANCK, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope [GLAST], and many dark matter direct and indirect detection experiments) motivate this series of workshops on particle physics and cosmology. In this workshop, we discussed the various issues related to the exploration of the connections between these two areas.
The workshop brought together particle theorists, experimentalists, cosmologists and observational astronomers. We had 48 talks distributed over five days. The speakers came from all over the world and they all were high authorities in their fields. The conference was attended by 81 physicists (34 from New Mexico) including nine students.
The talks addressed major theoretical models, current experimental data, upcoming experiments, possible future experiments, and accelerators that are at the proposal stage (e.g., the Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM), the Giant Magellan Telescope, the International Linear Collider (ILC), CLIC, the muon collider). Three panel discussions involving the key leaders in these areas were arranged to highlight the important issues that straddle the boundaries of these intersecting topics. In these panel discussions, the panelists and the audience discussed possible future routes to tackle the present problems in our understanding of the universe. We also arranged one public talk by Professor Robert Kirshner (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics [CfA]). The talk was on dark energy and it was well attended by people from the local community.
Workshop Impact and Continuation. The participants were amazed and impressed by the quality, breadth and organization of the workshop. There was consensus among the participants that this conference series should continue. The potential contenders to host next year’s conference are: Texas A&M University, University of Oklahoma and Cambridge University (UK).
For more information, contact Dr. Rouzbeh Allaverdi rouzbeh@unm.edu
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