EuCAPT – European Consortium for Astroparticle Theory
The APPEC roadmap 2017-2026 recommends the establishment and operation of a European centre for astroparticle theory with the aim to coordinate and favour the already existing activities in several European centers and institutions active in astroparticle theory.
As a result the European Consortium for Astroparticle Theory (EuCAPT) was born out of the efforts under the PACT programme. On the 10th of July 2019 the EuCAPT was officially launched at CERN, which is also the first central hub for the next 5 years. The EuCAPT activities are financed by the central hub, the participating institutions and APPEC.
EuCAPT aims to bring together the European community of theoretical astroparticle physicists and cosmologists. The goals are to increase the exchange of ideas and knowledge; to coordinate scientific and training activities; to help scientists attract adequate resources for their projects; and to promote a stimulating, fair and open environment in which young scientists can thrive.
Astroparticle physics is undergoing a phase of profound transformation. Extraordinary results have recently been achieved such as the discovery of high-energy cosmic neutrinos with IceCube, the direct detection of gravitational waves with Ligo and Virgo, and the birth of multimessenger astrophysics.
Yet formidable challenges are ahead of us: understanding the nature of dark matter and dark energy, elucidating the origin of cosmic rays, understanding the matter-antimatter asymmetry problem, and so on. These are highly interdisciplinary problems that have ramifications in cosmology, particle, and astroparticle physics, and that are best addressed by a strong and diverse community of scientists.
Activities
The main task of EuCAPT is the coordination of Astroparticle Theory in Europe. This includes the coordination of existing/planned activities of the participating institutions to prevent overlaps and enrich the overall portfolio but also contacts and coordination with ApP theorists from all over the world favouring collaboration/visits and bolstering common actions also with institutions not belonging to the EuCAPT.
This shall be achieved by organisation of regular meetings:
- An annual general meeting of the European theoretical astroparticle physics community at the central hub;
- Thematic workshops to be organised by other participating institutions;
- dedicated meetings for small groups of scientists to consolidate/finalize collaborative projects and common proposals;
White Paper
A White Paper (WP) was initiated by the Steering Committee of EuCAPT, with the aim to identify the opportunities in the field for the next decade, and to strengthen the coordination of Astroparticle Theory in Europe. It is addressed to the whole astroparticle community, and rather than attempting an impossible review of the current status of the whole field of research, it focuses on the upcoming theoretical opportunities and challenges, with particular emphasis on the possible synergies among different subfields.
Consortium
The first director is Gianfranco Bertone who is chairing a steering committee of 12 partners:
- Gianfranco Bertone (director), GRAPPA/Nikhef Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- David Langlois, APC Paris, France
- Vitor Cardoso, IST Lisbon, Portugal
- Licia Verde, ICC Barcelona, Spain
- David Marsh, Stockholm University, Sweden
- Andrew Taylor, DESY, Germany
- Piero Ullio, IFPU (SISSA+ICTP+INFN+INAF) Trieste, Italy
- Antonio Riotto, Université de Genève, Switzerland
- Subir Sarkar, Oxford University, United Kingdom
- Philippe Brax, Paris-Saclay, France
- Silvia Pascoli, IPPP, Durham, United Kingdom
- Gian Giudice a.i., CERN Theory Department, Geneva, Switzerland
Up-to-date information about EuCAPT activities and events are available from the EuCAPT website and their newsletter.