HA-101
Physics at the Terascale
Programmorientierte Förderung von DESY
Physics at the Terascale
Coordinating Helmholtz Centre:
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Notkestr. 85
22607 Hamburg
Research in particle physics is motivated by the goal of attaining a fundamental description of the laws of physics, such as explaining the origin of mass and understanding the dark matter in the universe. Although fundamentally driven by the quest for knowledge, the ensuing research is performed at the edge of what is feasible technologically and hence drives the development of technology in many areas. With the start-up of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2007 and preparations for the International Linear Collider (ILC) in full swing, we expect revolutionary results explaining the origin of matter, unravelling the nature of dark matter and providing glimpses of extra spatial dimensions or grand unification of forces. Any of these insights would dramatically change our view of the world. In order to optimally place German particle physics in an increasingly global environment, it is now the right moment to create new and improved structures for particle physics in Germany. This is the overarching goal of the proposed Alliance. A structured network comprising 17 universities, 2 Helmholtz institutes and 1 associated Max Planck institute will be created as a tool for a more effective collaboration, in particular between experimentalists and theorists. The Alliance will cover four Research Topics, addressing the fundamental questions of particle physics, distributed computing, novel detector development and accelerator science. An important aspect of the Alliance will be the creation of common infrastructures. All partners of the Alliance will contribute to and use these infrastructures for specific research projects.
The Alliance is part of a much broader truly international effort to explore the physics at the Terascale. It is the goal of the Alliance to strengthen the position of the German groups working in the field through this coherent ansatz. Only the Alliance as a whole with all partners can maximise the role of German research institutes in the international environment and also maximises the exploitation of the new or improved infrastructures created in the Alliance. This is where the Alliance is indispensable. It will allow completely new approaches in several areas:
- Analysis platform for all partners in conjunction with long-lasting support in computing and analysis tools;
- Close collaboration between experimentalists and theorists, including common projects;
- Enlarged collaboration between the experiments, e.g. concerning analysis tools, statistical methods, hereby creating and using synergy effects;
- Computing resources will be interlinked and supporting instruments developed and maintained for both experiments at the LHC and for ILC preparations;
- New or improved infrastructures for novel detector development will be created;
- It will broaden accelerator physics know-how at the universities and intensify accelerator development.
With particle physics scientifically at a turning point, it is now the right moment to enter new territory in Germany and to create new and improved structures and networks for the German institutes working at the energy frontier. Sustainability of the new structures is ensured by the Alliance partners already now promising 21 permanent positions covering all relevant areas of the proposal.
Scientific Coordinators of the Alliance
Dr. Ties Behnke
DESY
Notkestraße 85
22607 Hamburg
Tel.: +49 40 8998 4918
Fax: +49 40 8998 4453
E-Mail: Ties.Behnke@desy.de
Prof. Dr. Peter Mättig
Bergische Universität Wuppertal
Fachbereich 8, Physik
Gaußstraße 20
42097 Wuppertal
Tel.: +49 2024392761
Fax: +49 2024392811
E-Mail: maettig@physik.uni-wuppertal.de
Administrative Coordinator of the Alliance
Dr. Karsten Büsser
DESY
Notkestraße 85
22607 Hamburg
Tel.: +49 40 8998 1913
Fax: +40 40 8998 1812
E-Mail: Karsten.Buesser@desy.de
