Connecting Quarks with the Cosmos: Eleven Science Questions for the New Century

218 Pages·2003·6.249 MB·English

by  Committee on the Physics of the Universe, National Research Council

Connecting
Quarks
Cosmos
with the
Eleven Science Questions for the New Century
Committee on the Physics of the Universe
Board on Physics and Astronomy
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
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councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineer-
ing, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the
report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate
balance.
This project was supported by Grant No. DE-FG02-00ER41141 between the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences and the Department of Energy, Grant No. NAG5-9268
between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, and Grant No. PHY-0079915 between the National Academy of
Sciences and the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclu-
sions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s)
and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that pro-
vided support for the project.
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COMMITTEE ON THE PHYSICS OF THE UNIVERSE
MICHAEL S. TURNER, University of Chicago, Chair
ERIC G. ADELBERGER, University of Washington2
ARTHUR I. BIENENSTOCK, Stanford University2
ROGER D. BLANDFORD, California Institute of Technology
SANDRA M. FABER, University of California at Santa Cruz1
THOMAS K. GAISSER, University of Delaware
FIONA HARRISON, California Institute of Technology
JOHN P. HUCHRA, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
JOHN C. MATHER, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center2
JOHN PEOPLES, JR., Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory2
HELEN R. QUINN, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
R.G. HAMISH ROBERTSON, University of Washington
BERNARD SADOULET, University of California at Berkeley
FRANK J. SCIULLI, Columbia University
DAVID N. SPERGEL, Princeton University1
HARVEY TANANBAUM, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory2
J. ANTHONY TYSON, Lucent Technologies
FRANK A. WILCZEK, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
CLIFFORD WILL, Washington University, St. Louis
BRUCE D. WINSTEIN, University of Chicago
EDWARD L. (NED) WRIGHT, University of California at Los Angeles2
Staff
DONALD C. SHAPERO, Director
JOEL R. PARRIOTT, Senior Program Officer
MICHAEL H. MOLONEY, Program Officer
TIMOTHY I. MEYER, Program Associate
CYRA A. CHOUDHURY, Project Associate
NELSON QUIÑONES, Project Assistant
VAN AN, Financial Associate
1,2Served for only phase 1 or 2 of the study (see Preface).
v
BOARD ON PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
JOHN P. HUCHRA, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Chair
ROBERT C. RICHARDSON, Cornell University, Vice Chair
JONATHON A. BAGGER, Johns Hopkins University
GORDON A. BAYM, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
CLAUDE R. CANIZARES, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
WILLIAM EATON, National Institutes of Health
WENDY L. FREEDMAN, Carnegie Observatories
FRANCES HELLMAN, University of California at San Diego
KATHY LEVIN, University of Chicago
CHUAN SHENG LIU, University of Maryland
LINDA J. (LEE) MAGID, University of Tennessee
THOMAS M. O’NEIL, University of California at San Diego
JULIA M. PHILLIPS, Sandia National Laboratories
BURTON RICHTER, Stanford University
ANNEILA I. SARGENT, California Institute of Technology
JOSEPH H. TAYLOR, JR., Princeton University
KATHLEEN C. TAYLOR, General Motors Corporation
THOMAS N. THEIS, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
CARL E. WIEMAN, University of Colorado/JILA
Staff
DONALD C. SHAPERO, Director
JOEL R. PARRIOTT, Senior Program Officer
ROBERT L. RIEMER, Senior Program Officer
MICHAEL H. MOLONEY, Program Officer
TIMOTHY I. MEYER, Program Associate
CYRA A. CHOUDHURY, Project Associate
PAMELA A. LEWIS, Project Associate
NELSON QUIÑONES, Project Assistant
VAN AN, Financial Associate
vi
Preface
The fall 1999 meeting of the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Board
on Physics and Astronomy (BPA) featured a stimulating science session on
the frontiers of research at the intersection of physics and astronomy. Na-
tional Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) administrator Daniel
Goldin attended the session and at its conclusion asked the BPA to assess
the science opportunities in this interdisciplinary area and devise a plan for
realizing those opportunities. Robert Eisenstein, assistant director of the
National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Directorate, and S. Peter Rosen, associate director for high-energy and nu-
clear physics at the Department of Energy (DOE), expressed their desire to
work with NASA and supported the initiation of this study. The Committee
on the Physics of the Universe was formed and held the first of its eight
meetings in March 2000 (see Appendix A).
Mr. Goldin strongly urged the BPA to finish the report in time for the
recommendations to play a role in the science planning of the new admin-
istration that would be taking office in 2001. To meet that ambitious goal,
the BPA decided to divide the study into two phases: a first phase to assess
the science opportunities and a second phase to address the implementa-
tion of those opportunities. In carrying out the study, the BPA enlisted the
help of the Space Studies Board (SSB).
The charge to the committee was as follows:
The committee will prepare a science assessment and strategy for this
area of research at the intersection of astronomy and physics. The study
will encompass astrophysical phenomena that give insight into funda-
mental physics as well as fundamental physics that is relevant to under-
standing astrophysical phenomena and the structure and evolution of the
universe.
The science assessment will be carried out as the first phase of the study
over a period of 1 year. The assessment will summarize progress in ad-
vii
viii PREFACE
dressing the key research issues facing the research community and evalu-
ate opportunities for further progress. Among the science topics to be
included in the science assessment are cosmology, the creation of matter
and energy at the initiation of the universe, the dark matter known to
pervade the cosmos, the dark energy that appears to be causing the expan-
sion of the universe to accelerate, additional dimensions beyond the usual
three of space and one of time, strong-field gravitational physics, very-
high-energy cosmic rays, neutrino astrophysics, and extreme physics at
black holes and magnetized neutron stars.
The second phase of the study, which will require an additional year of
work, will result in a strategy for this interdisciplinary area of research. The
strategy will include scientific objectives identified in the first phase along
with priorities and a plan of action to implement the priorities, including
ways to facilitate continued coordinated planning involving NASA, NSF,
DOE, and the research community.
During the first phase, the committee held one open meeting to gather
input and to hear from the three sponsoring agencies about their current
plans and hopes for this study. It also met twice in closed session to prepare
an interim report for phase I (see Appendix A for meeting agendas). Com-
munity input was gathered during briefings at meetings of the American
Astronomical Society, the American Physical Society (APS), the APS Divi-
sion of Particles and Fields (DPF), the APS Division of Astrophysics and
Nuclear Physics, and the APS Topical Group on Gravitation. The committee
chose these divisions because the intersection between astronomy and phys-
ics largely touches on nuclear, particle, and gravitational physics. An e-mail
announcement inviting public comment was widely distributed through the
professional societies and their subunits. The interim phase I report con-
tained the science assessment, which was presented in the form of 11
questions that are ripe for progress. The phase I report was released to the
public on January 9, 2001, at the meeting of the American Astronomical
Society.
The committee began its second phase, the formulation of a strategy for
addressing the 11 science questions, by soliciting ideas from the commu-
nity. A call for proposals was widely circulated in the community (see
Appendix B). Some 80 proposals for projects that address the scientific
questions identified in the phase I report were received (see Appendix C).
A series of three open meetings was held to hear about projects and ideas.
The first was held in association with the April 2001 meeting of the APS; the
second was held in conjunction with the June meeting of the American
Astronomical Society; and the final meeting was held in Snowmass, Colo-
rado, during the DPF’s Future of High-Energy Physics Study. Two closed
PREFACE ix
meetings were held, one in Chicago, Illinois, and one in Irvine, California,
to formulate recommendations.
During the 2-year study the committee kept the BPA, SSB, and Commit-
tee on Astronomy and Astrophysics (CAA, a standing committee of the
NRC) informed by means of periodic progress reports from its chair.
This final report consists of the phase I report, a series of committee
recommendations for realizing the science opportunities, and a new chap-
ter (Chapter 7) devoted to how the science objectives can be addressed. It
complements the NRC surveys Physics in a New Era: An Overview and
Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium (both from the Na-
tional Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 2001). It builds on the science
priorities identified in those studies and focuses on areas at the intersection
of astronomy and physics that although peripheral to each discipline sepa-
rately, become important when considered in the context of both. This
report, together with the physics and astronomy surveys, provides a clear
and comprehensive picture of the exciting and timely science opportunities
that exist in physics and astronomy as we enter a new century.
The committee acknowledges BPA program staff members Don Shapero,
Timothy Meyer, Michael Moloney, and Joel Parriott, whose extraordinary
effort during the rigorous NRC review process enabled the committee to meet
a very aggressive prepublication schedule. The committee and I also thank
the NRC review coordinator for the phase I report, Martha Haynes, for her
willingness to oversee the review process during the busy winter holiday
season and the NRC review coordinator for the final report, Kenneth Keller-
man, who worked hard to help the committee meet its ambitious schedule.
I end with a personal note. The committee brought together an extraor-
dinary group of astronomers and physicists. The great diversity in scientific
backgrounds was more than balanced by an even greater interest in and
appreciation of science far from the members’ own research interests. The
science opportunities before us made every meeting exciting. Working with
this group was a pleasure that I will long remember, and I thank the commit-
tee for its hard work and commitment to the study.
Michael S. Turner, Chair
Committee on the Physics of the Universe
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for
their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with pro-
cedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Com-
mittee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and
critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published
report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional
standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge.
The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect
the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following
individuals for their review of this report:
David Arnett, University of Arizona,1,2
Jonathan Bagger, Johns Hopkins University,2
Barry Barish, California Institute of Technology,2
Gordon Baym, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,1,2
Beverly Berger, Oakland University,1
John Carlstrom, University of Chicago,2
Marc Davis, University of California at Berkeley,1
Sidney Drell, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center,1
Richard Fahey, Goddard Space Flight Center,1
Wendy Freedman, Carnegie Observatories,1,2
David Gross, University of California at Santa Barbara,1
Alice Harding, Goddard Space Flight Center,1
Steve Kahn, Columbia University,2
Marc Kamionkowski, California Institute of Technology,1,2
Richard Kron, Yerkes Observatory, University of Chicago,2
Louis Lanzerotti, Lucent Technologies,1
Rene Ong, University of California at Los Angeles,2
Anneila Sargent, California Institute of Technology,1
xi
xii ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF REVIEWERS
Peter Stetson, Dominion Astrophysical Observatory,1
Joseph H. Taylor, Jr., Princeton University,1,2 and
Edward L. Wright, University of California at Los Angeles.1
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive
comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions
or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its
release. The review of this report was overseen by Martha Haynes,1 Cornell
University, and Kenneth Kellermann,2 National Radio Astronomy Observa-
tory. Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible
for making certain that an independent examination of this report was
carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review
comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of
this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
1,2 Participated in the review for phase 1 or phase 2 of the study or both.