1. Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy Board on Physics and Astronomy Committee on Setting Priorities for NSF’s Large Research Facility Projects May 19-20, 2003 The National Academies Keck Center Scientific Community Perspectives Physics Barry C Barish

2. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics2 NSF’s Large Research Facility Projects in Physics The first large NSF facility in physics LIGO LHC IceCube Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR) -- high-luminosity 6+6 GeV electron- positron collider at Cornell University. The centerpiece of NSF High Energy Physics Program for many years B – Physics Accelerator Physics Synchrotron Radiation -- CHESS CLEO Collaboration: NSF & DoE ~20 research groups 125 collaborators

3. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics3 Research in Fundamental Physics We have many tools at our disposal from forefront accelerators to satellites in space to experiments deep under the surface of the earth. Accelerator LHC Magnet Space Hard priority choices must be made! Subterranean The Soudan Mine

4. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics4 NSF’s Large Research Facility Projects in Physics forefront of physics research Gravitational Waves Energy Frontier Highest Energy Particle Astrophysics LIGO LHC IceCube Rare Decays RSVP

5. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics5 Direct Detection of Gravitational Waves Detectors in space LISA Gravitational Wave Astrophysical Source Terrestrial detectors LIGO, TAMA, Virgo,AIGO

6. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics6 LIGO: A New Window on the Universe gravitational waves Gravitational Waves from the most astrophysical violent events – black hole collisions; supernovae; gamma ray bursts

7. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics7 LIGO: The Early Universe ‘Murmurs’ from the Big Bang Cosmic Microwave background WMAP 2003

8. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics8 LIGO gravitational wave detection The idea for using interferometers put forward in 1970s Ambitious R&D technology development and demonstration program supported by NSF in the 1980s Project construction approved in 1994; construction completed in 2000, on cost and schedule –NSF made a priority choice to support LIGO and to terminate the development program for future resonant bars LIGO scientific collaboration now consists of 30 research groups, 7 countries, 400 scientists Performance is approaching design goals and the initial science results have been recently reported Future upgrades are being developed as international partnership (including PPARC)

9. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics9 LIGO Sensitivity Livingston 4km Interferometer May 01 Jan 03

10. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics10 LIGO gravitational wave detection The idea for using interferometers put forward in 1970s Ambitious R&D technology development and demonstration program supported by NSF in the 1980s Project construction approved in 1994; construction completed in 2000, on cost and schedule –NSF made a priority choice to support LIGO and to terminate the development program for future resonant bars LIGO scientific collaboration now consists of 30 research groups, 7 countries, 400 scientists Performance is approaching design goals and the initial science results have been recently reported Future upgrades are being developed as international partnership (including PPARC)

11. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics11 LHC: The Energy Frontier the origin of mass The Standard Model prefers a Higgs boson mass of less than 200 GeV, well within reach of the LHC

12. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics12 Unifies matter with forces. –Every known particle has a supersymmetric partner, waiting to be discovered at the TeV scale. LHC: New Quantum Dimensions supersymmetry

13. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics13 U.S. LHC Detector Role Joint DoE / NSF Funding & Oversight Two detectors: Atlas, CMS U.S. Atlas Leadership at Columbia University (NSF) U.S. detector contributions are on time and schedule Outstanding Outreach Program

14. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics14 LHC the energy frontier Highest priority scientific frontier of particle physics –HEPAP subpanel reports, ECFA, etc - worldwide consensus U.S. participation in LHC –capitalizes on large U.S. R&D investments for SSC –enables the U.S.community to do research at the forefront of particle physics. Joint participation through NSF and DoE on a large international project – –Highest priority project by HEPAP subpanels in the 1990s U.S. detector construction is on schedule and cost New development – “Grid Computing” can enable the NSF university community to effectively analyze data from their home institutions

15. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics15 IceCube: Point Sources of High Energy Neutrinos Extragalactic objects such as active galactic nuclei (AGN) and gamma ray bursts (GRBs) Galactic sources, such as pulsars and supernovae, are also possible sources.

16. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics16 IceCube: Sensitivity to Dark Matter Complementary to Direct Searches Sensitive to higher masses Sensitive to spin-dependent neutralinos interactions Similar sensitivity to direct searches Neutralinos are good candidates for dark matter. They may be indirectly detected indirectly through their annihilations in the Sun. The produced particles subsequently decay and yield high energy neutrinos.

17. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics17 IceCube high energy neutrinos Early developments under water (DUMAND) South Pole development under ice – Amanda Priority choice: Ice chosen technically due to implementation and characteristics of ice vs water. New field: Particle Astrophysics –Emerging area of physics being initiated in NSF physics –High Priority given to science opportunities of ~km 3 scale high energy neutrino detector in “Quarks to Cosmos” and recent NRC report “Neutrinos and Beyond” Project –R&D and engineering development has led to a technically more robust project – digital readout and new ice drill –NSF Polar Program project with science support through Physics. –Pre-construction funding has been a problem

18. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics18 Very Rare Processes Some very rare processes probe CP violation in the strange quark system. Lepton flavor violation and proton decay are consequences of grand unification!  e  MECO  K     KOPIO 

19. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics19 RSVP: Very Rare Processes probes beyond the standard model Scientific opportunity to discovery potential for new physics by seeing “forbidden” decay channels RSVP to be implemented (leveraged) on a DoE accelerator facility investment -- Brookhaven AGS Scientific Community Role –Reviewed and approved through the AGS Program Advisory Committee, then proposed to NSF –NSF Review panel recommended for MREF –Recent HEPAP subpanel supports RSVP –New HEP priority committee, P5, will establish relative priorities of such projects among other HEP projects in future Pre-construction support is a problem

20. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics20 Setting Priorities for Large NSF Facilities perspectives from physics community Large projects are a crucial element in research at the forefront of physics –Large variety of projects and areas of physics The science community must play the key role in making the hard priority choices in physics –Scientific assessments are being done in the community –Priority setting also is done and being improved – P5 –NSF reviews in physics have strong community input Priority setting for physics projects vs other possible NSF initiatives is done and must be done by the NSF

21. 19-May-03Scientific Community Perspectives: Physics21 Setting Priorities for Large NSF Facilities perspectives from physics community Interagency and international projects are becoming the norm and must be strongly supported Large Projects: Birth to Death –Enabling R&D -- The most promising new possible scientific projects need to be “nurtured” to develop techniques and determine feasibility and costs. –Pre-construction support is essential to optimize technology, minimize risks, minimize costs and develop a robust management –Construction is well managed by the NSF – good record on cost/schedule and especially on facility performance. –Operations must be planned for each large project, but it is crucial to recognize that this is the research component of any project and is less predictable. Flexibility must exist to support evolving needs for the most successful projects and to be able to support new developments and opportunities.