The International Cosmic Day will take place this year on November 10, 2021. And there is a reason to celebrate: it is the 10th anniversary.
The International Cosmic Day (ICD) focuses on the cosmic rays that surround us all the time, but are always unnoticed. So let’s explore them for one day and discover what secrets they bring.
During this day, students, teachers and scientists get together to talk and learn about Cosmic Rays. Questions that can be discussed are:
What are cosmic particles?
Where do they come from?
How can they be measured and what can we learn from them?
If you want to be part of this day and plan a program, you can get more information here.
About the school: The school aims at bringing highly qualified and motivated graduate students to the forefront of the field of Multimessenger astronomy through a world-class international training environment. PhD students will work with leading scientists in the field and benefit from their complementary expertise in theory and experiments involving the various messengers. Collaboration between students and researchers at the partner institutions is facilitated through a lively exchange program. The professional training of students includes data science as a supporting component of the school. Furthermore, the school offers a number of individual measures to promote career development. Depending on the primary location (Germany or Israel), the PhD will either be earned either at the Humboldt-University Berlin, at the University of Potsdam or at the Weizmann Institute of Science.
The research field: Multimessenger astronomy, the exploration of the Universe using information from a multitude of cosmic messengers, including electromagnetic radiation, neutrinos and gravitational waves, has lead to several groundbreaking discoveries during the last few years with significant contributions from the partner institutions. Through the development of better theoretical understanding, novel ways to combine the data and access to most sensitive instrumentation, members of the school will be optimally trained and positioned in this emerging field.
Partners of the school are DESY and the Weizmann Institute of Science, as well the Humboldt-University Berlin and University Potsdam. The Ruhr-Universität Bochum and the Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg are the school´s associates. The school is receiving significant funding through the Initiative and Networking Fund of the Helmholtz Association.
Admission: Each year approximately 10 students from countries around the world are admitted to the school. The earliest date to start the PhD is in spring 2022.
An initiative of leading scientists led by Prof. Dr. Günther Hasinger, research director of the European Space Agency (ESA), just received the news that their idea of the German Centre for Astrophysics (DZA) to be located in Lusatia was recommended to the BMBF for the first funding phase.
The initiative, which is supported by scientists from the Max Planck Society, the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, the Helmholtz Association, among them DESY, and the Technical University of Dresden, is advocating the establishment of the German Centre for Astrophysics (DZA) to be located in Lusatia. The group submitted its proposal for the new research centre to the ideas competition “Wissen schafft Perspektiven für die Region!” organized by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Free State of Saxony. The competition calls on outstanding scientists to submit proposals for the establishment of large-scale research centres in order to determine the thematic focus and exact location of two new large-scale research centres in Lusatia in Saxony and in the central German mining region.
The concept of the DZA rests on three pillars: First, the data streams of future large telescopes, such as the Square Kilometre Array and the Einstein telescope, are to be bundled and processed in Saxony. They account for several times the data traffic on today´s internet and require new technologies. The centre is to tame the data tsunami and will therefore accelerate the digitization of Germany.
The second pillar will be a technology centre where, among other things, new semiconductor sensors, silicon optics and control technologies for observatories will be developed. Building on the experience and modern environment of industry in Saxony, this will create new companies and further high-quality jobs through spin-offs.
Thirdly, the settlement of the European gravitational wave observatory Einstein Telescope, which is already in the planning stage, in the Granit-Stock of Upper Lusatia is to be examined.
The Perspective Commission of the competition selected the six most convincing proposals and recommended them to the BMBF for the first funding phase; the DZA is one of them. If the DZA is selected as one of the two new centres in the next step, this would be a great opportunity for the German and the European astrophysics and astroparticle physics communities.
In the latest issue of Nuclear Physics News an editorial by the chairs of APPEC, ECFA and NuPECC, Andreas Haungs, Karl Jakobs and Marek Lewitowicz respectively, was published. They report about the Joint ECFA – NuPECC – APPEC Activities and they emphasise how important the cooperation of the three consortia/committee will remain in the future.
Simulation of gravitational waves caused by merging neutron stars. Credits: R. Hurt/Caltech-JPL
The European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) has announced that the 3rd generation gravitational wave observatory “Einstein Telescope (ET)” will be part of 2021 upgrade of the ESFRI roadmap. This confirms ET´s relevance for future research in Europe and gravitational wave research at global level.
The ET Research Infrastructure Consortium Coordinators, Antonio Zoccoli of INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Italy) and Stan Bentvelsen of Nikhef (Dutch National Institute for Subatomic Physics) both also members of the APPEC GA, are extremely excited about this result.
“We are very pleased about this important result: the ESFRI approval acknowledges the value of our project and strengthens ET at the European level”, says Zoccoli. “We will work synergistically on its development, confident that it is strategic to foster our knowledge of the universe, technological innovation and social growth.”
“The ESFRI status is a major step towards the realisation of this European project,” – says Bentvelsen – “scientifically the Einstein Telescope is undisputed, and with the ESFRI status there is indispensable recognized support for its quality and impact. We are looking ahead to further develop the plans together with all countries involved.”
“The preparation of the proposal has been a two years large effort involving several research institutions and universities, now composing the Einstein Telescope consortium, belonging to ten European countries and having real interdisciplinary competences”, says Michele Punturo, Coordinator of the ET-ESFRI proposal preparation. The proposal was submitted by the Italian government in September 2020, supported by the governments from the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland and Spain.
Since September 9th, several of the people involved were invited to present the plans, to deepen specific aspects of the project and answer questions of the ESFRI evaluation committee. Among them was Marica Branchesi, member of the ET-ESFRI proposal preparation team: “We have worked hard to develop the science case of the Einstein Telescope. Each simulation showed us the enormous capabilities of the Einstein Telescope observing the Universe. The Einstein Telescope will revolutionize our knowledge in fundamental physics, astrophysics, and cosmology”, says Branchesi.
The Einstein Telescope is designed as a triangle of long tunnels, spanning 10 km each. It will be located 200-300m underground. (Credits: Nikhef / Thijs Balder)
“This positive decision will now allow European gravitational wave researchers to move forward quickly with detailed planning and the site decision. I am very much looking forward to ET because it will serve as an integral part of the emerging field of multi-messenger astronomy”, says Harald Lück, from the Leibniz Universität Hannover (LUH) and Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute, AEI).
The Einstein Telescope was confirmed in a long and accurate evaluation and selection process. During the ESFRI Assembly meeting, the delegates finally voted in favor of the Einstein Telescope. This official European approval brings the project into a new phase. The scientific Institutions involved from ten countries (Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, The Netherland, UK) will now have to intensify their research and development work on the Einstein Telescope and gravitational waves. It will also speed up the ongoing subsurface studies for the characterization and evaluation of the candidate sites that could host the underground infrastructure.
A new window on the universe
The Einstein Telescope is a future underground observatory for gravitational waves. The instrument will be much more sensitive than existing gravitational-wave detectors. Therefore, the observatory will enable scientists to peek into the ‘dark ages’ of the universe for the first time. Gravitational waves were detected for the first time in 2015, and offer a new way of studying the universe. Until their first detection, scientists could only study the universe by looking at light or radiation, but with gravitational waves they can observe vibrations of spacetime itself. Although the existence of gravitational waves was already predicted by Albert Einstein a hundred years ago, he did not expect it was possible to ever detect them. Yet with the mind blowing technological developments of the last century, scientists and engineers have managed to reach the sensitivity and precision that is needed to observe them. This opened a new era in the study of the universe, the era of gravitational wave and multimessenger astronomy, and led to a Nobel prize in 2017. The Einstein Telescope will lead to many more unimaginable discoveries in the future in this new field of research.
About ESFRI and the ESFRI Roadmap
ESFRI, the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures, is a strategic instrument to develop the scientific integration of Europe and to strengthen its international outreach. The mission of ESFRI is to support a coherent and strategy-led approach to policy-making on research infrastructures in Europe, and to facilitate multilateral initiatives leading to the better use and development of research infrastructures, at EU and international level. ESFRI’s delegates are nominated by the Research Ministers of the Member and Associate Countries, and include a representative of the Commission.
The ESFRI Roadmap identifies the most promising European scientific structures on the basis of an in-depth evaluation and selection procedure, and includes the ESFRI Projects, i.e. new research infrastructures under construction, and the ESFRI Landmarks, i.e. research infrastructures already implemented with success. All previous updates of the ESFRI Roadmap have proved to be very influential and have provided strategic guidance for investment by member states and associated countries, even beyond the scope of research infrastructures.
Interview with Patricia Conde Muíño on the JENAA Diversity Working Group
ECFA, NuPECC and APPEC recognise the importance of diversity as a motor to boost productivity and innovation, fight prejudice and discrimination and contribute to improving social and economic standards.
As part of the Joint ECFA NuPECC APPEC Activities, JENAA, a Diversity Charter was developed to be signed by research organisations, collaborations and conferences within the three fields. Patricia Conde Muíño represents ECFA in the Diversity Working Group, and she will tell us more about the Charter and the corresponding actions.
How did the idea for a joint working group on diversity come about?
I am not sure how the first idea appeared, but the Diversity Charter was first proposed within ECFA in 2018 by Jorgen D’Hondt, the ECFA Chair by then. He was very keen on starting this initiative. At the same time, the three consortia, APPEC, ECFA and NuPECC, were beginning a series of Joint Activities (now called JENAA). The Diversity Charter soon became one of the first joint efforts, with full support also from the APPEC and NuPECC groups, chaired by Antonio Masiero and Marek Lewitowicz, respectively. The first step was creating the task force with representatives from all three consortia to prepare the first Diversity Charter.
What is the content of the diversity charter, and why do you think it is important for organisations, collaborations and conferences to sign the document?
The Diversity Charter states the fundamental principle that people differ in many different ways. By accepting, valuing, and supporting this diversity, research organisations (in general) can create a working environment that boosts productivity and innovation, fight prejudice and discrimination. The definition of diversity presented is very wide. It recognises that individuals may differ in visible or invisible aspects, such as age, gender and sexual orientation, national and ethnic origin, civil status and family situation, religious convictions, political and philosophical opinions, and physical ability. The signatories of the Charter agree on promoting diversity by fostering an environment of respect and understanding, and stimulating diversity at all levels in the hierarchical organisation of the entity. As part of the effort toward promoting diversity, they also agree to balance the composition of coordinating or advisory committees, as well as management positions, and provide monitoring information on their diversity status.
Concerning why should Research Organisations, Conferences, or Collaborations sign the agreement, there are several reasons. The first one is the moral responsibility we all have to fight prejudice and discrimination, fostering an inclusive environment where all the individuals are respected and can benefit from the same opportunities, such that they can flourish and give the best of themselves. In addition, it has been demonstrated in several studies that having more diverse teams not only boosts productivity and innovation in companies (where it is also correlated with a higher turnover) but also in research organisations. We present some references for these studies in the Charter itself. Promoting diversity and respect improves the working environment, the work-life balance within the organisation and contributes to the efficiency and competitiveness of the organisation. Therefore, it is in the interest of the research entities to promote and support diversity.
The Working Group also developed a survey to monitor diversity. Can you tell us more about this survey?
Diversity Charger signatories agree to provide monitoring information to APPEC/ECFA/NuPECC on their diversity status. This monitoring focuses on a reduced set of variables that can be collected by the different entities (age, gender, career level, citizenship, and working country), as described in the support document. In case they already have this information available (in a database, for example), they can readily provide it. Otherwise, to facilitate collecting the monitoring data, we developed three different surveys that can be used by Research Organisations, Collaborations, and Conferences. Filling the survey should not take longer than three or four minutes and will be very important to get an overall picture of the three fields.
What do you expect as the outcome of the activities?
We aim to contribute to a more diverse community in the fields of APPEC/ECFA/NuPECC. Since awareness is the first step towards change, we expect to obtain a global picture of the current situation with the survey, identifying possible imbalances not only in gender but also related to nationalities or even working countries. This picture will be extensive, covering many research collaborations with different sizes in the three fields in addition to research organisations and conferences.
What are the next steps to reach this goal?
The surveys represent just the first step. In case some imbalance is observed, we will propose a series of actions or recommendations that can be implemented to improve diversity in the various entities. In addition, we want to promote a dialogue between different signatories to share experiences and best practices, helping them find the solutions that best work in each case.
We have received up to now very positive feedback, with collaborations very interested in participating, that is a very good sign.
Patricia Conde Muíño is Assistant Professor at IST (Universidade de Lisboa) and researcher at the Portuguese Laboratory for Experimental Particle Physics, LIP. She coordinates the Portuguese activities in the ATLAS Experiment at CERN and represents Portugal at the European Committee for Future Accelerators (ECFA). Her research interests focus on the exploration of the Higgs sector. She contributed to the Higgs Boson discovery and later to measurements of Higgs Boson properties at ATLAS. She is one of the ECFA representatives in the APPEC/ECFA/NuPECC Diversity Working Group.
View from satellite of the LHAASO experiment. Clearly visible, in the center, the complex of Water Cherenkov Detector Array surrounded by the Muon detectors. Credits: LHAASO
In the recent paper appearing in Nature, the LHAASO observatory reported on its observation of 12 gamma-ray sources and its measurement of a gamma ray with an energy of 1.4 PeV, the highest ever detected.
The LHAASO Observatory has been conceived as a dual task facility for cosmic-ray (CR) studies at energies above the TeV up to several EeV and γ-rays up to few PeV.
The installation – sitting at 4,410 m above sea level near the Daocheng Airport, on the Haizi Mountain in the Sichuan Province of China – features four different types of detectors to cover a wide energy range and allow to measure not only the shower direction, energy, and profile but also its muon and electron content.
The Water Cherenkov Detector Array (WCDA), 3 pools covering a total area of 78’000 m2, is in the middle of the Kilometer Square Array (KM2A), which covers an area of 1.3 km in diameter, instrumented with about 1200 muon detectors and 5200 electromagnetic detectors. A Wide Field-of-view Cherenkov Telescope Array (WFCTA) complement the installation, with its 18 Telescopes capable of working in Cherenkov and Fluorescent mode.
The array will be completed by the end of July 2021, but science operation started since the end of 2019 with half of the array.
Combining the four different types of detectors, LHAASO will be able to measure air showers generated by cosmic rays or gamma rays with multiple variables simultaneously. Basic information about the incident particles, such as arrival direction, type, and energy, can be measured through the reconstruction of the showers.
Using this approach, LHAASO gave a glimpse at possible sources of gamma rays, which could solve once forever the riddle on the origin of the cosmic rays.
Tracing the origin of these high-energy cosmic rays is not straightforward; they must travel across the Universe through magnetic fields present in space that curl their trajectories.
Therefore, when we detect such a cosmic ray arriving at the earth, we may be able to determine the direction it arrived from, but this is not necessarily the same direction it started from.
Luckily cosmic rays should produce γ-rays close to their accelerators, so searching instead for the sources of high-energy γ-rays, which are not affected by the magnetic fields, we can pinpoint their origin.
Artistic view of LHAASO and the position of the twelve detected sources in the Milky Way. Credits: LHAASO
The results presented in the recent Nature publication claim for the first discovery of both electrons and proton PeVatrons.
PeVatrons is the name given – in analogy with particle accelerator as synchrotron, cyclotron, etc. – to the powerful cosmic accelerators responsible for these extremely energetic cosmic rays.
These Cosmic Ray ‘Factories’, perfectly designed by Nature, are incredibly efficient machines accelerating particles at a rate close to the absolute theoretical margin determined by the classical electrodynamics and magnetohydrodynamics.
Even if it remains an open question what they are, these new results provide some important clues.
One source of the published list is the famous Crab Nebula, which evolved from the “guest star” recorded by the imperial astronomers of China’s Song Dynasty to become, nowadays, the standard candle in high-energy astronomy used for calibrating new UHE gamma-ray source.
In the Science paper published in July, LHAASO has reported the results of the accurate measurement of the Crab Nebula emissions over 3.5 orders of magnitude, recording an event with an energy of 1.1 PeV, identified as a photon even if it cannot be excluded to be a proton.
The measurement of such a photon indicates the presence of an extremely powerful electron accelerator—about one-tenth the size of the solar system—located in the core region of the Crab Nebula.
The buried Muon Detectors (the dirt hillock) and the Electromagnetic Detectors. Credits: LHAASO
For the first time, it was possible to verify that gamma-ray spectra extend beyond 1 PeV, proving the PeVatrons do exist in the Milky Way, and these findings bring us closer to understanding the origins of extremely high energy cosmic rays.
With an expectation of detecting 1-2 photons with energies around 1 PeV from the Crab Nebula every year, the puzzle of the cosmic PeV electron accelerator will be unraveled in the coming years.
As a matter of fact, the measured 1.1 PeV photon provides direct evidence for the acceleration of 2.3 PeV electrons in the source. Since high energy electrons suffer strong energy loss in a magnetic field, the accelerator in the Crab Nebula must operate at an incredibly high efficiency to balance the huge energy loss. According to the LHAASO measurement, its acceleration efficiency can reach 15% of the theoretical upper limit, thus surpassing that of the supernova blast wave by a factor of 1,000. This poses challenges to the standard paradigm of electron acceleration in high-energy astrophysics. An in-depth analysis and discussion of this topic are detailed in the paper in Science.
The results reported in the Nature and Science articles can be considered as the tip of the iceberg, being achieved with a partial array. In the coming years, we expect many breakthrough discoveries by LHAASO that could dramatically change the current understanding of the most energetic and extreme phenomena of the non-thermal Universe.
PeV gamma-ray emission from the Crab Nebula
Cao, Z., Aharonian, F.A., An, Q. et al. for the LHAASO Collaboration, Science 08 Jul 2021: eabg5137, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abg5137
After a one-year delay due to COVID-19 the first radio stations ofthe Radio Neutrino Observatory Greenland (RNO-G) have been deployed in the ice of Greenland near Summit Station.
RNO-G will target neutrinos above 10 PeV, searching for a continuation of the astrophysical neutrino flux as detected by IceCube and potentially discover cosmogenic neutrino at EeV energies.
The deployment team on site in Greenland near Summit Station. Credits: RNO-G
RNO-G builds on long-term experience of radio pathfinders such as RICE, ANITA, ARA and ARIANNA that search for neutrinos in the Antarctic Ice. RNO-G combines the sensitive surface log-periodic dipole antennas as used for ARIANNA, with a combination of deep antennas and a low-noise phased array trigger as featured in ARA. The design of RNO-G also serves as a reference design for the proposed radio neutrino array of IceCube-Gen2.
Prior investigations by collaboration members showed that the ice at Summit Station shows the correct properties for a sensitive radio array. RNO-G is the first ultra-high energy neutrino detector with a view of the Northern sky and the first in Europe. The field will be complementary to any current or future radio detector at South Pole, which is particularly interesting for the potential follow-up of transient sources. Furthermore, the RNO-G field of view coincides with the most sensitive field of view of the optical IceCube detector, enabling the study of Northern sources over an extended range of neutrino energies.
Background shows the novel BigRAID drill, the foreground the setting up of solar panels for the first station. Credit: RNO-G
Also in the view of the global pandemic, the location in Greenland has proven advantageous. While travel and logistics through New Zealand has been limited and heavily restricted, the government of Greenland never completely closed the country for travel during the summer season. Albeit following a strict quarantining policy, a team of in total 14 people (in varying shifts) could travel to Summit this year, Europeans traveling directly to Kangerlussuaq via commercial airlines. The last team members will return home at the end of August.
Drilling hole with a diameter of 28 cm that goes down to 100 meters. Credits: RNO-G
The work during this first deployment season will concentrate on drilling the first holes to 100 meters depth using the novel BigRAID drill as constructed by colleagues from the British Antartic Survey (BAS) specifically for this project. The drill delivers dry holes with a diameter of 28 cm down to 100 meters in less than 2 day shifts, and is relatively lightweight and can easily be operated by two people, with further plans for automation.
Next to the first radio stations, the crew installed server infrastructure and a custom LTE network for data transfer at Summit Station. With a summer population of less than 35 people, the infrastructure at Summit Station is much smaller than what one may extrapolate from the experience at South Pole Station. This constraint requires the radio stations to be fully autonomous, exclusively powered with renewable energies. While in this season only solar panels have been installed, meaning that the radio detector will go dormant during the winter, the collaboration expects to be able to add wind-turbines in one of the following seasons in order to retain full operation all year round.
As deployment is still on-going the final number of stations deployed in this season is still counting up. Two more deployment seasons are planned and ultimately, RNO-G is expected to consist of 35 stations, reaching the highest yearly sensitivity of any neutrino detector at 1 EeV.
More information and a full list of collaborating institutions can be found in the RNO-G design paper (JINST 16 P03025 2021), https://arxiv.org/abs/2010.12279
RNO-G is funded mainly through Belgian (FWO) and German agencies (Helmholtz W2/W3 initiative DFG), and contributions from US partners, including project and logistics support by the National Science Foundation.
Astronet (the consortium of European funding agencies, established for the purpose of providing advice on long-term planning and development of European Astronomy) continues to develop a new Science Vision & Infrastructure Roadmap, in a single document with an outlook for the next 20 years. A delivery date to European funding agencies of mid-2021 is anticipated. Astronet is committed to engaging fully with the wider physics community to ensure a common vision where appropriate and mutually beneficial.
The Science Vision and Infrastructure Roadmap revolves around the research themes listed below:
Origin and evolution of the Universe
Formation and evolution of Galaxies
Formation and evolution of Stars
Formation and evolution of Planetary Systems
Understanding the Solar System and conditions for Life
but will include cross-cutting aspects such as computing and training and sustainability.
After some delays due to the global pandemic, the first drafts of the chapters for the document are now available on the Astronet website (see below) from the Panels asked to draft them, for the community to view and comment on. For the Science Vision & Roadmap to be truly representative it is essential we take account of the views of as much of the European astronomy and space science community as possible – so your input is really valued by the Panels and Astronet.
It is intended that a virtual “town Hall” style event, with the support of the European Astronomical Society will be held in late Spring 2021, where an update on the project and responses to the feedback will be provided. (See update below)
Astronet is a consortium of European funding agencies, established for the purpose of providing advice on long-term planning and development of European Astronomy. Setup in 2005, its members include most of the major European astronomy nations, with associated links to the European Space Agency, the European Southern Observatory, APPEC and the European Astronomical Society, among others. The purpose of the Science Vision and Infrastructure Roadmap is to deliver a coordinated vision covering the entire breadth of astronomical research, from the origin and early development of the Universe to our own Solar System.
The first European Science Vision and Infrastructure Roadmap for Astronomy was created by Astronet, using EU funds, in 2007/08, and updated in 2013/14. Astronet is now producing a single document encompassing both the science vision and infrastructure roadmap with an outlook for the next 20 years.
Update May 2021:
As a next step in developing its science vision, Astronet is holding an open webinar to present current status and seek further advice from the European astronomical community via the European Astronomical Society (EAS). The webinar will include an overview of the process from the chair of the Astronet Board, with presentations from the panels who have been working on draft sections, and plenty of time for questions.
The aim is for further consultation in the next few weeks, followed by production of the report and delivery to the Astronet Board before the end of 2021.
Astronet is a consortium of European research funding bodies and national representatives purposed with developing a new science vision and roadmap, taking forward the pioneering and influential reports last updated around 2015. It includes as associates and observers ESA, ESO and the SKA and has close links to APPEC and the EAS.
The webinar is hosted by the EAS and will take place on 11 June, from 8h00 to 13h30 UTC (ie 9h-14:30h UK, 10h-15h30 CEST).
The JENAS2019 event at Orsay allowed astroparticle, nuclear and particle physics researchers to sniffle into each other’s activities. Being informed by the presentations and discussions and with a view to further explore topical synergies between the disciplines, a call for Expression of Interest (EoIs) was submitted by the then Chairs (Teresa Montaruli, APPEC; Jorgen D’Hondt, ECFA; Marek Lewitowicz, NuPECC) of the three commitees/Consortia, with a request to identify the potential communities across the border of at least 2 of them and elaborate on the synergy topic and possible objectives.
Till now five EoI were received and the current chairs want to inform the community-at-large about these common activities and encourage further engagement and participation.
“Dear Colleagues,
Initiated by the European Committees for Astroparticle (APPEC), Particle (ECFA) and Nuclear Physics (NuPECC), and following a first joint seminar held in Orsay in 2019, Expressions of Interest for common activities have meanwhile been endorsed in the following areas:
Dark Matter (iDMEu)
Machine-learning Optimized Design of Experiments (MODE)
Gravitational Waves for fundamental physics
Nuclear Physics at the LHC
Storage Rings for the Search of Charged-Particle Electric Dipole Moments
All these activities have held their first meetings to present and discuss their Expressions of Interest and to make first steps towards implementation of the common activities in autumn last year (more information is available here).
With this letter we would like to inform the community-at-large about these common activities and encourage further engagement and participation. Interested groups may wish to attend important meetings which are intended to take place during 2021. Below a short summary of the status, planned activities and upcoming workshops is given.
In addition, a new JENAS expression of interest is currently discussed, which would concern the new US-based project, the Electron-Ion Collider. Please, follow the above mentioned webpage of the EoI for news.
Work will be ongoing in all of these activities towards a second Joint ECFA-NuPECC-APPEC Seminar (JENAS) that will be held in Madrid from 3 – 6 May 2022.
With best regards,
Andreas Haungs (APPEC Chair), Karl Jakobs (ECFA Chair), Marek Lewitowicz (NuPECC Chair)”
Initiative for Dark Matter in Europe and beyond (iDMEu) iDMEu is an initiative that aims at building up a “virtual place” where researchers working on Dark Matter from different communities can meet and exchange ideas. Some details can be found here https://indico.cern.ch/event/869195
iDMEu will kick off its activities with a meeting to be held online (via zoom) on 10 – 12 May 2021 between 2 and 6pm European time https://indico.cern.ch/event/1016060/
Machine-learning Optimized Design of Experiments (MODE) MODE targets the use of differentiable programming in design optimization of detectors for particle physics applications, extending from fundamental research at accelerators, in space, and in nuclear physics and neutrino facilities, to industrial applications employing the technology of radiation detection.
Details are available here: https://mode-collaboration.github.io/index.html#home
A first (in-person) workshop on differentiable programming is planned to be held on 6 – 8 Sept. 2021 in Louvain / Belgium https://mode-collaboration.github.io/workshop/index.html
Gravitational Waves for fundamental physics The landmark detection of gravitational waves emitted by black-hole and neutron-star binaries has opened a new era in physics, giving access to hitherto unexplored systems. In parallel to their countless astrophysical applications, these discoveries open new avenues to explore fundamental physics.
More details can be found here: https://agenda.infn.it/event/22947/overview
Further meetings will be announced in due course.
Nuclear Physics at the LHC The main goal of the initiative is to provide a platform to investigate physics of anti-nuclei and hadronic interaction at high energy accelerators and in Space. It aims at facilitating information exchange via common projects and workshops as well as via the availability and maintenance of public analysis and propagation codes.
More details can be found here: https://indico.ph.tum.de/event/4492/
An in-person workshop will be held as soon as the situation with the pandemic allows it and will be announced in due course.
Storage Rings for the Search of Charged-Particle Electric Dipole Moments A three day Heraeus Workshop has taken place end of March to discuss charged particle Electric Dipole Moment measurements. Parallel to ongoing studies at COSY in Juelich/Germany, the next step is to design and build a prototype storage ring, where key concepts can be verified and a first direct proton EDM measurement will be performed. The submission of a Design Study is planned in 2022 in the framework of the “Horizon Europe Work Programme for Research Infrastructures”.
The International Cosmic Day will take place this year on November 10, 2021. And there is a reason to celebrate: it is the 10th anniversary. 
An initiative of leading scientists led by Prof. Dr. Günther Hasinger, research director of the European Space Agency (ESA), just received the news that their idea of the German Centre for Astrophysics (DZA) to be located in Lusatia was recommended to the BMBF for the first funding phase.
