(5 pages maximum) The OSUTI project is a pluridisciplinary project about fundamental and applied physics in the fields of subatomic physics and cosmology.
This project will be divided in 6 complementary themes that will offer the opportunity to develop synergies and joint researches:
Physics on Colliders
Astroparticles and Cosmology
Neutrino physics
Nuclear structure and Energy
Future accelerator Physics and technology
Mathematical Physics
As presented in the laboratories description, this leading edge fields are integrated in national and international contexts where the OSUTI members play a major role. It explains the OSUTI members implication in national and international projects in link with important stakes of these disciplines.
The following tables present the national and international state-of-art concerning the 6 themes:
National and international State-of-the-Art : Physics on Colliders
National and international context
Stakes
Factual elements that justify those stakes
The Standard Model of particle physics (SM) provides today an excellent description of the elementary particles and their interactions – apart from Gravity. It has been very successful succin the Electroweak sector in predicting the existence of the W and Z bosons,carrier of the Weak force, and in the description of the Strong sector – QCD – in anticipating the existence of the gluon, carrier of the Strong force.
Theoretical predictions have reached the per mille precision for most of the pure Electroweak processes and at best the per cent level for QCD processes, ground line of the future LHC physics.
The validity of the Standard Model has been further consolidated in the past years by international experiments at the LEP collider (ALEPH,DELPHI,L3), at the Tevatron (D0) and at the B-factories (BaBar). With its first collisions in 2009, the LHC, hadronic collider at CERN opens a new area in terms of energy and luminosity. Experiments at the future linear collider will corroborate or not these results thanks to high precision data.
In another domain, the Standard model of cosmology built upon experimental results from e.g sky surveys (COBE, WMAP) and galaxy surveys reveals that almost 25% of the Universe is made of mater of unknown nature- the Dark Matter. Each galaxy is immersed in a large halo of Dark Matter.
The SM leaves open several questions :
What is the actual mechanism that gives mass to all elementary particles?
What is the nature of Dark Matter?
What is the reason for the number of particle families and their mass hierarchy?;
How can the 4th force, the gravity be incorporated?.
Different possible extensions of the Standard Model of Particle Physics offer solutions to these issues and will be tested with the current experiments at the LHC and with unprecedented precision with the next generation of experiments at as well as in precision low energy experimentsSuperB factories and Linear Colliders. The later ones require the development of a novel generation of highly-segmented detectors.
Global fits tototoexploiting simultaneously low energy, collider and astrophysical data provide a unique way to explore the full parameter space of anyanyanyconstrain new models.
Complex and long calculations of theoretical predictions are generated by the precision required by the current and next generation of experimental results. The high luminosity at LHC planned for 2017 will require improved electronics to treat the large data flux and improved detectors to stand the higher level of radiations.To unravel the nature of Dark Matter, 3 approaches are complementary:
The direct search trying to detect the DM particles from the halo surrounding our galaxy inunderground detectors (MINACMINACMINACMIMAC in LSM)
The indirect search looking for anomalies in the flux of standard cosmic-rays (AMS,HESS)
The DM could be created in collisions at LHC and at future colliders (ATLAS,LC)
International conferences : EPS-HEP (Cracovie 2009, Grenoble 2011) , ICHEP (Paris 2010), FPCP, Beauty, Lepton-Photon, HCP, “Rencontres de Moriond”, LCWS,IWLC
International Workshops :
Phys-TeV (Les Houches), CKM, GRANIT
International and transversal working groups :
Electroweak, CKMfitter, HFAG, ILC-GDE, World Wide Study,CTEQ
French Support : GDR TeraScaleTeraScaleTeraScaleTerascale ,ANR ( ToolsDMColl, HiggsTime,SusyPheno), Theorie-LHC-France initiative
FP7: Eudet, AIDA
Common tools: GEANT, Micromegas, the Phox family, Golem NCNClibrairy,Resummation, MC@NLO, PowHEGPowHEGPowHEGPOWHEG, CTEQ-PDFs (with LAPP, LPSC inputs)
National and international State-of-the-Art : Astroparticles and Cosmology
National and international context
Stakes
Factual elements that justify those stakes
Very High Energy gamma rays messengers
A key result of recent years was that sources of very high energy particles play a significant role in the cosmic cycle.
Europe, with telescope systems such as H.E.S.S. and MAGIC instruments holds a leading position.
The proposed CTA facility, an array of telescopes deployed on an unprecedented scale, will allow the European scientific community to remain at the forefront of the research.
The optical deep sky survey
Dark energy is one of the major enigmas of contemporary physics. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope should dramatically change the situation. Many projects are devoted to dark energy but none of them however approaches the LSST capabilities at least at this time scale
Galactic High Energy Cosmic Rays
The AMS 02 experiment soon to be installed on the International Space Station will collect invaluable informations on how GeV to TeV cosmic ray species are produced and propagate throughout the Galaxy.
The CREAM experiment is currently operating long duration balloon flights and is measuring the fluxes of a few cosmic ray nuclei at the TeV scale.
Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray
The “Pierre Auger Observatory” is the largest and most advanced cosmic ray detector ever built. Its unprecedented sensitivity opens the era of UHECR astronomy and gives access to physics at energies far beyond that of man made accelerators.
Directional detection of non-baryonic dark matter
MIMAC offers a complementary effort to the existing projects giving the directional signature needed to correlate the event to the galactic halo.
The development of a dedicated microelectronic chip (LPSC) and a pixelized micromegas (IRFU) were the keys to have the excellent results on the scale of a small prototype that allow being very competitive.
The international competition (USA, UK) is very hard. The MIT and Drift use the same target with other strategy.
Gravitational waves:
The European project Virgo is one of the most sensitive GW detectors worldwide. The analysis of the data has allowed establishing interesting astrophysical limits.
Planck is designed to image the anisotropies of the Cosmic Background Radiation Field with unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution.
Planck is a large international collaboration having two instruments on board: Low and High Frequency
Very High Energy gamma rays messengers
To improve sensitivity and explore wide energy range
To investigate nature and distribution of Dark Matter through signatures of its annihilation in the gamma-ray spectra at the energy threshold of CTA sensitivity >20 GeV
To study large population of non-thermal astrophysical sources
To develop modern e-infrastructures to open Cherenkov data access and supporting a large virtual research community.
The optical deep sky survey
To understand the nature of dark matter
To measure the redshifts of billions of galaxies.
Galactic High Energy Cosmic Rays
To investigate the sources of TeV cosmic rays.
To model accurately the propagation of cosmic rays in the Galaxy.
To derive the astrophysical backgrounds against which the indirect signatures of the astronomical dark matter
Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR)
To understand the nature and origin of UHECR
To study physics of hadronic interactions and test fundamental laws of at centre of mass energies >100 TeV
To improve the sensitivity and the precision of existing observatories to the identification of UHECR, photons and neutrinos
Directional detection of non-baryonic dark matter
To cover a big volume of detection with a spatial resolution in 3D
Gravitational waves: Advanced Virgo
To establish the first direct detection of gravitational waves and to enter the era of GW astronomy.
To improve the sensitivity through upgrading the detector to the 2nd generation interferometer of Virgo
Cosmic background anisotropies
To provide, in the next ten years, a major source of information relevant to several cosmological and astrophysical issues, such as testing theories of the early Universe and the origin of cosmic structures.
Very High Energy gamma rays messengers
2008 CTA in the ESFRI roadmap;
2010 CTA in the “European E-Infrastructures ESFRI Project requirements” document
The optical deep sky survey
Many related conferences, workshop and colloquia.
Galactic High Energy Cosmic Rays
ICATPP Cosmic Ray conference
AMS has received the help of the NASA.
Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray
The EASIER R&D carried on in the frame of the Pierre Auger Collaboration has received a start up funding from the “Particles & Universe” program of IN2P3/CNRS.
Directional detection of non-baryonic dark matter
Subject of the international community who meets at the CYGNUS Conference (next organized by the LPSC)
Gravitational waves: Advanced Virgo
Virgo is a declared priority in the "HORIZON 2020" strategic plan of CNRS.
Cosmic background anisotropies
The Planck-HFI collaboration has a structure that includes a Core-Team and Working Groups. The LPSC has 7 members in the Core-Team and participates to 4 Working Groups.
Thorough studies of the nature of the neutrino, its oscillation properties and the existence of CP violation in leptonic sector.
Search for direct proof of flavour changing process (OPERA/CNGS in Italy)
More precise measurements of oscillation parameters (Minos/NUMI in US and Kamland in Japan).
Search for the third mixing angle theta13 with reactor (Double Chooz in France) and with powerful long baseline beam (T2K in Japan, Nova in US).
Preparation of the next generation of neutrino beams and detectors to constrain more or determine theta13 if small, measure the mass hierarchy and search for CP violation process with leptons => open window to matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe
Existing double beta decay experiments with sensitivities on neutrino mass near 0.2 eV. Typical isotope mass close to 10kg
Prepare next steps of double beta projects to gain a factor 2 to 10 on sensitivities. Several projects with different technologies and isotopes are under study to reach masses of 100 kg within the 5 coming years (GERDA, CUORE, SuperNemo, EXO etc…)
Oscillation experiments:
Conception of large detectors with fine grained detection capabilities.
Work in low background environment
Neutrino beam : Need more powerful one
Control and determine the background processes occurring at low energies
Control at the lowest possible levels the systematic uncertainties coming from neutrino sources and fiducial detection volumes.
Double beta decay experiments
Enrichment of isotopes. Some of the best isotopes are 150Nd, 48ca or 96Zr but there is no possibility to enrich them for large mass today
Natural radioactivity and radon : reduction of backgrounds needed
Improvement of energy resolution for tracko-calo approach
Next Nucleon Decay and Neutrino Detectors conferences
Bi-annual international neutrino conferences
ASPERA roadmap
ILIAS conclusions
Minutes of APPEC scientific council
National and international : Nuclear structure and Energy
National and international context
Stakes
Factual elements that justify those stakes
From a national point of view, the regulation and the “national Policies for the sustainable management of radioactive material and waste” lead the public research organisations to focus on the separation and the transmutation of radioactive nuclear waste
From an European point of view the Euratom program supports the European R&D programs in nuclear energy
From an international point of view cooperative research and development for the next generation nuclear energy systems are gathered under the Generation IV Forum
Conception of a new reactor functioning with a liquid fuel, the Molten Salt Fast Reactor (MSFR)
Lack at the international scale of experimental experts to develop new technologies
To minimize the impact of the nuclear waste on the environment
Develop new systems to burn minor actinides
To optimize the fuel cycle of reactors to make nuclear energy sustainable
Optimization of nuclear fuel resources
Study of a new fuel cycle: The thorium-233U fuel cycle produces less minor actinides than the present uranium/plutonium
To go deeper into the challenging atomic nucleus understanding
The Physor and Global Conferences gather the main nuclear countries and aim at developing innovations for nuclear reactors
“Fission and Properties of Neutron-Rich Nuclei” international conference gathers main experts in nuclear structure research
UE FP6 and FP7 networks (CARE, EUCARD) are funded to federate activities and to share common knowledge
Nuclear waste treatment and/or energy production with accelerator driven reactors
Major improvement of accelerator reliability required
Series of “International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Applications of Accelerators” (last : AccApps 2009, Vienna)
Series of “Accelerator Reliability Workshop” (last : ARW 2009, Canada)
National and international State-of-the-Art : Mathematical Physics
National and international context
Stakes
Factual elements that justify those stakes
The ultimate aim is to understand the fundamental laws of nature and the principles that govern matter and energy from cosmological scales down to the tiniest scales of the elementary particles. The notion of symmetry has been the guiding thread in the construction of a unified picture of the forces and interactions. Different guises of symmetry, topology and geometry are deep-rooted in the current formulation of the models and theories which therefore require mathematical know how.
The predictions that derive from the underlying symmetries and which need to be confronted by experiments are based on approximations and hence the search for exact solutions or integrable formulations that exploit dualities between different symmetries.
Beyond the search for the Higgs as a sign for a hidden realisation rather than a breaking of a symmetry, lies an understanding of the quantum vacuum. Implementation of novel symmetries, such conformal and supersymmetric as in field theory or strings, have given birth to beyond standard model physics that is looked for at the LHC providing at the same time a candidate for Dark Matter. At a deeper level the challenge, as within superstring, is to reconcile gravity with quantum mechanics with the hope of solving the Dark Energy puzzle.
This line of cutting-edge formal research has led to remarkable spin-offs such as new ways of calculating scattering amplitudes most efficiently that may ultimately be applicable for the predictions of observables at the colliders (LHC). Our mathematical physics team has been leader in this specific topic.
More efficient ways and techniques for calculating scattering amplitudes and hence predictions for the LHC.
Construction of Models for the New Physics at the LHC and Linear Collider and connection to Dark Matter candidates and neutrino physics.
Investigation of “landscape” like scenarios or general phenomenology of strings and new physics predicts first order phase transitions which may be the seed for a stochastic gravitational wave (GW) background that could be searched for by experiments.
Usage of dualities and exploitation of integrable systems outside the realm of particle physics, opening up to condensed matter for example.
Nature of the quantum vacuum and the dark energy puzzle.
Reconciling gravity with quantum mechanics
Various string theory Workshops and Conferences
International workshop on gauge and string amplitudes
Recent meetings at the IAS Princeton and Perimeter Institute involving leaders in the field of theoretical physics are testimony of the high stakes in the recent developments.
