EUROPEAN ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICISTS TO CELEBRATE 100 YEARS OF COSMIC RAY EXPERIMENTS
Four hundred years ago, Galileo was the first one to look at the sky with a telescope. About 100 years ago a new era for astrophysics began with the first astroparticle physics experiments that led to the discovery of cosmic rays. European physicists take the opportunity of the International Year of Astronomy to celebrate this anniversary.
From 10 to 17 October 2009, in France, Italy, Spain and many other countries, astroparticle physicists will meet the public to reveal some of the most exciting mysteries of the Universe. Within the first European Week of Astroparticle Physics, they will organise about 50 events all over Europe: open days, talks for the general public, exhibitions…
The first precursor experiments discovered cosmic ray radiation about a century ago. From 1909 to 1911, physicist Theodor Wulf tried to measure differences of radiation at different altitudes from the Netherlands to Switzerland, and even on top of the Eiffel Tower. In 1912, Victor Franz Hess measured a significant increase of radiation using a balloon for his experiments, flying up to 5000 meters. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for “his discovery of cosmic radiation” in 1936.
Paris will honour astroparticle physics pioneers at the Montparnasse Tower – the highest building in Paris – which will become a real cosmic rays detector during the entire week. It will welcome the public for animations and meetings with scientists. At night a laser beam will link the ancient Paris Observatory and the Montparnasse Tower, flashing in syncronisation with the detection of cosmic rays.
In Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania… laboratories will open their doors or organise special events where physicists will meet the public.
Rome will celebrate astroparticle physics with opening on 27 October 2009 in Palazzo delle Esposizioni a large exhibition dedicated to astroparticle physics: “Astri e particelle. Le parole dell’ Universo”. It is the very first exhibition of this kind in Europe, highlighting challenges and techniques of astroparticle physics, a truly new astronomy.
New astronomy
While the roots of astroparticle physics date back one century ago, it has been developing strongly on the last 30 years, opening new windows to the Universe. Astroparticle physics aims to answer fundamental questions such as “What is dark matter?”, “What is the origin of cosmic rays?” or “What is the nature of gravity?”. In underground laboratories or with specially designed telescopes, antennas and satellite experiments, astroparticle physicists employ new detection methods to hunt a wide range of cosmic particles, such as neutrinos, gamma rays, and cosmic rays.
Cosmic rays are tiny particles coming from Space. Created in the core of stars and other cosmic bodies, they reach the Earth, providing a lot of information about their sources and the Universe. Physicists and astronomers think that the cosmic rays of the highest energies come from the most violent phenomena in the Universe such as supernova explosions and black holes.
As part of the International Year of Astronomy IYA2009, the European Week of Astroparticle Physics is an initiative of ASPERA and ApPEC*, the bodies coordinating astroparticle physics in Europe.
Historical highlights:
1909-1910: Theodor Wulf studies radiation in several places: in the Netherlands, on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on the Swiss mountains, trying to detect a change of radiation with the altitude.
1912: Victor Hess flyes to 5200 metres in a balloon and demonstrates the existence of radiation coming from the sky (picture). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1936 for his discovery of cosmic rays.
1930: Pierre Auger discovers particle showers, which come from the collisions between cosmic rays and particles of the atmosphere.
1956: Frederick Reines & Clyde Cowan discover the neutrinos. Reines was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1995 for this work.
1987: Neutrino emissions by Supernova SN 1987A confirm theories about star explosion.
1989: The first source of high-energy gamma rays is discovered.
1998: Cosmic neutrinos reveal the oscillatory nature of these particles.
2002: Raymond Davis and Masatoshi Koshiba are awarded the Nobel Prize for detecting cosmic neutrinos from the Sun and from SN 1987A.
2009: First European Week of Astroparticle Physics.
Notes for editors:
ASPERA, the AStroParticle European Research Area is a network of European national funding agencies responsible for astroparticle physics. ASPERA is funded by the European Commission within FP7, the 7th Framework Programme.
ApPEC is the Astroparticle Physics European Coordination. It was founded in 2001 when six European scientific agencies took the initiative to coordinate and encourage astroparticle physics in Europe.
The aim of the International Year of Astronomy IYA2009 is to stimulate worldwide interest, especially among young people, in astronomy and science under the central theme‚”The Universe, Yours to Discover”. The International Year of Astronomy was proclaimed by the United Nations on 20 December 2007.
ASPERA-2: towards a sustainable structure for European astroparticle physics
7 July 2009 – Hamburg – Funding agencies for astroparticle physics celebrated today the official launch of ASPERA-2, a three-years programme funded by the European Commission, which the main challenge is to create a sustainable structure for the coordination of astroparticle physics in Europe.
Astroparticle physics is a new field of research emerging from the convergence of physics at the smallest and the largest scales of the universe. As the field develops, it is opening up new observing windows both in astronomy and in particle physics.
ASPERA-2 is the continuation of the very successful ASPERA programme, which one of the main achievements has been to develop the European strategy for astroparticle physics. This took the shape of a Roadmap published in September 2008, supporting the realisation of the “Magnificent Seven”, the seven large infrastructures expected for the future to answer to some of the most exciting questions about the universe such as: What is dark matter? Where do cosmic rays come from? What is the nature of gravity?
While ASPERA just launched the very first European common call for R&D in astroparticle physics, the ASPERA-2 programme will go deeper towards the coordination of astroparticle physics in Europe, with in particular a series of new calls and joint activities, and the establishment of sustainable common procedures.
ASPERA-2 aims also to extend the ASPERA network to all European countries with interest in astroparticle physics, comprising already 19 funding agencies and one associate partner from 17 countries, and the CERN European organisation. It includes developing transfer knowledge and technology activities and increasing synergy between astroparticle physics and environmental sciences.
Representatives of the “Magnificent Seven” experiments recognised the important role of ASPERA in stimulating the astroparticle physics community, bringing people together. ASPERA-2 will continue strengthening the young field of astroparticle physics and consolidate the leading role of Europe in understanding the secrets of the universe.
The “Magnificent Seven” of European astroparticle physics unveiled to the world
Brussels, 29th September 2008. Today Europeans presented to the world their strategy for the future of astroparticle physics. What is dark matter? What is the origin of cosmic rays? What is the role of violent cosmic processes? Can we detect gravitational waves? With seven types of major large-scale projects physicists want to find the answers to some of the most exciting questions about the Universe:
CTA, a large array of Cherenkov Telescopes for detection of cosmic high-energy gamma rays
KM3NeT, a cubic kilometre-scale neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea
Ton-scale detectors for dark matter searches
A ton-scale detector for the determination of the fundamental nature and mass of neutrinos
A Megaton-scale detector for proton decay’s search, neutrino astrophysics & investigation of neutrino properties
A large array for the detection of charged cosmic rays
A third-generation underground gravitational antenna
“New exciting discoveries lie ahead; it is up to us to take the lead on them in the next decade.” says Christian Spiering from DESY – Germany, Chairman of the Roadmap Committee. After two years of roadmap process, the publication of The European Strategy for Astroparticle Physics is an important step for the field outlining a leading role for Europe in this increasingly globalised endeavour.From undersea and underground laboratories to the most isolated deserts and outer space, astroparticle physics experiments accept very exciting challenges. It is a promising and rapidly growing field of research at the intersection of particle physics, cosmology and astrophysics, aiming to detect the most elusive particles, and to penetrate the most intimate secrets of the Universe.
To insure the coordination of astroparticle physics at the European level, research agencies from 13 countries joined their efforts within the ASPERA* European network, an ERA-Net funded by the European Commission. Thanks to the work achieved through ASPERA, European countries for the first time have a common tool to programme jointly and share their efforts in astroparticle physics.
This ambitious programme will gather European countries to open new exciting windows to the Universe, and the most advanced projects such as CTA (high-energy gamma rays) and KM3NeT (high-energy neutrinos) could start construction by 2012. The complete funding of this billion-scale programme would need a smooth yearly increase of current investments for astroparticle physics, amounting to an integrated increase of about 50% in a ten-year period.
“The timely realization of the Magnificent Seven is a big challenge” says the coordinator of ASPERA Prof. Stavros Katsanevas (IN2P3/CNRS) – France, “But we are confident that none will be killed contrary to what happens in the film, as the European agencies and ApPEC* support these priorities and the same also emerge in other continents. It is important that we coordinate and share costs not only inside Europe but on a global scale.”
This is why beyond Europe, ASPERA welcomes on 29 and 30 September 2008 200 scientists and officials of funding agencies from all over the world, in view of international collaboration.
European astroparticle physicists also affirmed their support to Earth- and space-based missions to explore the phenomenon of “dark energy”, to the concept of a cooperative network of deep underground laboratories, and to a common call for innovative technologies in the field of astroparticle physics. In addition, they declared their wish to see the formation of a European Centre for Astroparticle Physics Theory.
Notes for editors:
ApPEC is the Astroparticle Physics European Coordination. It was founded in 2001 when six European scientific agencies took the initiative to coordinate and encourage astroparticle physics in Europe.
ASPERA, the AStroParticle European Research Area is a network of European national funding agencies responsible for astroparticle physics. ASPERA is funded by the European Commission as an ERA-NET. It comprises the following agencies: FNRS(Belgium), FWO(Belgium), MEYS(Czech Republic), CEA(France), CNRS(France), BMBF(Germany), PTDESY(Germany), DEMOKRITOS(Greece), INFN(Italy), FOM(Netherlands), FCT(Portugal), IFIN-HH(Romania), FECYT(Spain), MICINN(Spain), SNF(Switzerland), VR(Sweden), STFC(United Kingdom) and the European organization CERN.
From opportunities to reality: European astroparticle physicists define their strategy in Amsterdam
On the road to the discovery of dark-matter particles, gravitational waves and the origin of cosmic rays, astroparticle physicists defined today their plans in Amsterdam during an important meeting of 200 physicists. After publishing their European Roadmap in June, they were for the first time able to compare detailed plans for European future large infrastructures with the available funds in the European agencies. Furthermore, foreign agencies from the United States and China were represented at the highest levels in view on a world convergence.
At the intersection of particle physics and astrophysics – at the frontier of the infinitely small and infinitely large – astroparticle physics is a rising field. It has been strongly emerging for the past ten years and has a very high discovery potential, aiming to answer the most exciting questions about the Universe such as “What is the Universe made of?”, “What is the origin of cosmic rays?” or “What is the nature of gravity or dark matter?”.
From undersea and underground laboratories to space, or in the most isolated deserts, astroparticle physics experiments accept very exciting challenges in which Europe is one of the major players. Astroparticle physics is really a science of the future and for next years will develop very large scientific instruments in order to detect the most elusive particles, and to penetrate the most intimate secrets of the Universe.
Joined together within the ASPERA* European network, the European agencies for research from 12 countries decided for the first time to share their efforts to define together the policy to be followed in this field. What are the great questions to solve? How is it possible to coordinate astroparticle physics at a European level? What will be the large European infrastructures for tomorrow? To answer these questions, ASPERA engaged in an important prospective work towards a common roadmap. This roadmap process was coordinated by a group of European and non-European experts chaired by Dr. Christian Spiering from DESY – Germany.
“An important milestone will be the elaboration of a final European roadmap associated with a detailed census of the existing budget and human resources available in the participating agencies. The enthusiasm with which the scientific community and the funding agencies embraced the process makes me confident of the outcome” said Professor Stavros Katsanevas from CNRS – France, the coordinator of ASPERA.
The European Commission already supports the design studies of important projects such as KM3NeT, a large future undersea neutrino telescope, which will be built in the depths of the Mediterranean Sea. It also recently announced its support for the design studies of two new large facilities, LAGUNA, a very large detector for proton decay and neutrino astronomy and the Einstein Telescope (ET), a next generation gravitational wave antenna.
Considering the European convergence criteria and their strong scientific interest, it was also recommended to engage the design studies for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), a new generation of European observatory for high-energy gamma rays and EURECA, a ton-scale bolometric detector for cryogenic research of dark matter.
The success of the ASPERA process unceasingly attracts new partners and the important meeting held in Amsterdam was for ASPERA the occasion to announce the request of Romania to enter the ASPERA network.
Defining the European strategy for Astroparticle physics with the whole community is the innovative challenge engaged by the ASPERA European network. It is a strong symbol that the construction of European research is on the move.
