VI International Pontecorvo Neutrino Physics School
First (and Last) Bulletin of VI International Pontecorvo Neutrino Physics School (February 2015)
The VI Pontecorvo Neutrino Physics School is organized by Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (Dubna, Russia), Comenius University (Bratislava, Slovakia), Czech Technical University (Prague, Czech Republic), and Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic).
Organizing Committee: Chairman: V.A. Matveev (JINR), Scientific program: S.M. Bilenky (JINR), Vice-chairmen: I. Štekl (CTU Prague), F. Šimkovic (Comenius U.), A.G. Olshevskiy (JINR), Members: V.A. Bednyakov (JINR), R. Leitner (Charles U. Prague), V.B. Brudanin (JINR), E. Kolganova (JINR), Secretaries: O. Matyuukhina (JINR), D. Štefánik (Comenius U.)
Logo of the school was prepared by Mikhail Bilenky (Vancouver).
Welcome
The VI Pontecorvo Neutrino Physics School will be held in Grand Hotel Bellevue, on foot of the beautiful High Tatra Mountains, Slovakia within a period August 27 – September 4, 2015.
The program of the School will cover modern topics of neutrino physics including neutrino experiments, phenomenology and theory: Theory of neutrino mixing and masses Solar, atmospheric, reactor and geo neutrino experiments Direct neutrino mass measurements Neutrinoless double-beeta decay (theory and experiment) Sterile neutrinos Dark matter Leptogenesis and Baryoogenesis Neutrino cosmology and astronomy Statistics for nuclear and particle physics
General information
The VI International Pontecorvo Neutrino Physics School to be held in Grand Hotel Bellevue, High Taatra Mountains, Slovakia, August 27 - September 4, 2015, continues the tradition of Pontecorvo Neutrino Physics Schools, which were held in Dubna and Alushta in 1998, 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2012. The information about previous editions of the Pontecorvo Neutrino Physics Schools is available at webpage http://pontecorvosch.jinr.ru.
The VI Pontecorvo Neutrino Physics School will cover a broad range of topics in neutrino physics and neutrino cosmology. The purpose of the School is to review the present status of experimental and theoretical neutrino physics. In total the School will accept about 70 participants including 20 lecturers, 50 PhD students and young scientists. The priority for participation in the School will be given to the applicants with a strong neutrino physics background and interests.
Students and young scientists will be encouraged for active participation in the School. Tutorials, exercises, and questions and answers sessions will be organized. Candidates are encouraged to bring posters presenting their research work. The posters session and brief presentations by the students and young scientists will be organized at the School.
Lectures at the School
Neutrinos in Standard Model and beyond Samoil Bilenky (JINR Dubna) Phenomenology of -mixing and oscillations Serguey Petcov (SISSA) Long baseline -oscillation experiments David Wark* (Oxford U.) Reactor experiments Rupert Leitner (Charles U.) Atmospheric neutrinos Yoichiro Suzuki (U. of Tokyo) Solar- and geo-neutrinos Oleg Smirnov (JINR Dubna) Sterile neutrinos Carlo Giunti (INFN Torino) Vyacheslav Egorov (JINR Dubna) Theory of -masses Werner Rodejohann (MPI Heidelberg) Baryogenesis from Leptogenesis Sasha Davidson (IPNL Lyon, France) Direct -mass search Christian Weinheimer (U. of Muenster) Theory of -decay Martin Hirsch (U. of Valencia) Double Beta Decay Matrix Elements Francesco Iachello (Yale U.) decay: EXO and KamLAND-Zen Andreas Piepke (U. of Alabama) decay : GERDA Stefan Schoenert (TU Muenchen) Neutrinos in cosmology and astronomy Steen Hannestadt (Aarhus U.) Physics at IceCube Elisa Resconi (TU Muenchen) Baikal experiment Zhan-Arys Dzhilkibaev (INR Moscow) Supernova and relic neutrinos Petr Vogel (CATLTECH) Dark Matter Walter Potzel (TU Muenchen) News from CERN Sergio Bertolucci (CERN) Progressive detection techniques I Ettore Fiorini (U. di Milano-Bicocca) Progressive detection techniques II Ivan Štekl (CTU Prague) Statistics for Nuclear and Particle Physics Louis Lyons (U. of Oxford) *to be confirmed
Daily timetable
8:00-9:00 Breakfast 13:30-16:00 Free time 9:00-12:30 Morning session 16:00-19:30 Afternoon session 10:30-11:00 Coffee break 17:30-18:00 Coffee break1 12:30-13:30 Lunch 19:30-20:30 Dinner
Venue
The venue of the School will be the GRAND HOTEL BELLEVUE situated in Starý Smokovec (more precisely in Nový Smokovec directly connected to Starý Smokovec) at the altitude of 1,010 meters above the sea level at the foothill of Slavkovský štít (Slavkovský Peak, 2452 meters above sea level). Stary Smokovec is located in the central part of the High Tatras and is one of its main centers.
The High Tatras, having 17 peaks over 2,500 meters (8,200 ft), are with the Southern Carpathians, the only mountain ranges with an alpine character and habitats in the entire 1,200 kilometers (750 mi) length of the Carpathian Mountains system. The massif is only 25km wide and 78km long, but photo opportunities are enough to get you excited - ultramarine mountain lakes, crashing waterfalls, undulating pine forests and shimmering alpine meadows. Most of this jagged range is part of the Tatra National Park (Tanap) and a similar park across the peaks in Poland. The adjacent parks protect UNESCO's trans-border Tatra Biosphere Reserve. Many rare and endemic animals and plant species are native to the High Tatras. They include the Tatra’s endemic goat-antelope and critically endangered species, the Tatra chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra tatrica). Large predators include Eurasian brown bear, Eurasian lynx, marten, wolf and fox. The Alpine marmot is common in the range.
Midmountain, three main resort towns string west to east. Štrbské Pleso is the traditional ski center and is most crowded, with construction galore. Eleven kilometers east, Smokovec is an amalgam of the Nový (New), Starý (Old), Dolný (lower) and Horný (upper) settlements. Here there's still a bit of a turn-of-the-20th-century heyday feel, plus numerous lodgings and the most services. Five kilometers further, Tatranská Lomnica is the quaintest, quietest village. All have mountain access by cable car, funicular or chairlift. Poprad is the closest city (with mainline train station and airport), 14km south of central Starý Smokovec.
Important dates
Registration deadline Friday, June 12, 2015 Participant’s arrival Thursday, August 27, 2015 Excursion Tuesday, September 1, 2015 Conference dinner Thursday, September 3, 2015 Participant’s departure Friday September 4, 2015
Accommodation
Accommodation is reserved by the organizing committee in the beautiful GRAND HOTEL BELLEVUE, where is also the venue of the School. The Bellevue Hotel offers accommodation in spacious and well-furnished rooms. For lecturers and senior scientists double-bed room with single occupancy will be available and for students double-bed room with double occupation will be prepared.
The upper floors of the Hotel Bellevue offer spectacular panoramatic view of the Tatra landscape. The hotel prides itself on its unique location in peaceful surroundings where all the natural beauties can be enjoyed and all the haste of everyday life can easily be forgotten. Hotel amenities are as follows: Restaurant, Bars, Congress center, Wellness center, Sport center (Swimming pool, Fitness center, Gym, Squash, Table tennis, Bowling, Billiards).
Activities/Attractions: sight-seeing, walking, tourism, cycling, skiing (in winter)
Check-in: from 14.00 Check-out: to 10.00
Address: Stary Smokovec 21, 062 01 Vysoke Tatry, Slovakia
Transportation
By Plane - The High Tatras has a small airport, Poprad-Tatry field, which offers limited passenger air service depending on the season. The international airport Poprad - Tatry is the highest located airport in Central Europe and the entrance gate to the High Tatras. The airport is located about 5km (3 miles) outside of town and is reachable by car or taxi (but not public transportation). Currently, the Wizz Air (https://wizzair.com/), the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, operates a new route from London-Luton to Poprad-Tatry initially flying 4 times a week. The Poprad airport is only a 15 minute drive from the resort of the High Tatras (Tatranská Lomnica, Starý Smokovec and Štrbské Pleso).
There is also a possibility to fly to Bratislava airport, Košice airport or Vienna airport and continue to High Tatras by train (a taxi to Košice railway station costs about 10 €). For best prices of plane tickets visit the websites:
To Poprad by plane http://www.airport-poprad.sk/ To Košice by plane http://www.airportkosice.sk/ To Bratislava by plane http://www.airportbratislava.sk/cestujuci/
By Train - Poprad is a major rail junction and ŽSR state railroad train service is relatively frequent to and from Bratislava, Žilina, and Košice. From Bratislava, the journey on an express train takes 3:46 or 4:35 hours (about 1 train each 2 hours); from Žilina, 2 hours, and from Košice, 1:15 or 1:53 hours (about 1 train each hour). From Poprad station, the Tatra Electric Railroad runs directly to Starý Smokovec (about 30 minutes).
Train connection Prague↔Poprad (http://ww.idos.cz, with wifi): Pendolino, Czech Railways (fastest: 6:25 hours, daily from Prague: 6:35→12:58, from Poprad: 15:58 →22:21), Leo Express (6:41 hours, daily from Prague: 14:35→21:16, from Poprad: 0:24→8:06), RegioJet (6:55 hours, daily from Prague: 7:48→14:42, from Poprad: 9:15→16:10).
By Car - Poprad lies on Slovakia's major east-west highway. The drive from Bratislava follows the Váh River north to Trenčín and Žilina, before turning east. Some of the drive is along four- lane highway and takes about 4 hours. From Košice, the drive is along mostly two-lane highway and takes about 2 hours.
By Bus - Bus service is frequent from Poprad to many regional cities and towns, including Bratislava, Košice, and Levoča. You can also use the bus station at Starý Smokovec, just on the edge of the resort in the direction of Tatranská Lomnica. The bus is often the best option for seeing the smaller towns in and around the Tatras. The tourist information offices can help you sort out the timetables and destinations.
Getting Around
Starý Smokovec is a Tatra Electric Railway hub and you can easily get on a tram in the direction of Poprad, Tatranská Lomnica or Štrbské Pleso. There is also a bus station there where many local and long distance lines stop. You can also use several car parks. Starý Smokovec is also the lower station for the aerial cableway leading to Hrebienok. By Train - The Tatra Electric Railroad is cheap and efficient, and serves all of the major resorts. Trains run about every 45 minutes from Poprad to Starý Smokovec and on to Štrbské Pleso and several points in between. Travel to Tatranská Lomnica requires a change at Starý Smokovec. Ticket prices vary depending on the length of the journey. The price from Poprad to Štrbské Pleso is about 2 €. Buy the tickets at ticket windows at stations and validate them in the trains.
By Car - Excellent roads connect Poprad to all of the Tatra resorts. The travel time between Starý Smokovec and Štrbské Pleso (20km/12 miles) is 15 minutes.
Registration
Students and young scientists: The expected number of students and young scientists is 50. Registration is required for all students and young scientists at web page of the School (http://theor.jinr.ru/~neutrino15/index.hhtml). In the selection procedure the priority will be given to the students and young scientists working in the field of neutrino physics and making earlier registration.
Lecturers: Lecturers don’t need to register. Arrangements for travels and accommodation will be made individually.
Registration Fee
The registration fee amounts 700 Euros (hotel room with double occupancy) or 850 Euros (hotel room with single occupancy). The School fee covers all expenses for participation, accommodation in Grand Hotel Bellevue, full pension, all refreshments during the coffee breaks, goodies and participation in social program (excursion, bowling, gym hall ettc.) and banquet. The approveed participants will be asked to pay the fee in advance or supply information about credit card to contact person in hotel administration.
Visa
Slovakia, a member of Schengen Area, issues Schengen visa. An invitation letter for a uniform Schengen visa application will be prepared by organizers following the request in June 2015. The visa application should be submitted on an official application form at the Embassy (Diplomatic Mission or Consulate) of the Slovak Republic accredited for the country where the applicant resides or the country of his citizenship.
Social program and banquet
Excursion is planned for Tuesday, September 1, 2015. It is expected that there will be a choice of 2 (or 3) different tours. Preliminary they are as follows:
Tour 1. Spis castle and town of Levoca (UNESCO).
Spiš castle (Spišský hrad - UNESCO) - one of the largest castles in Central Europe with breathtaking scenery. Levoča (UNESCO) – well preserved medieval town with a conserved city wall, beautiful noblemen’s houses, a renaissance town hall, St. James church with the tallest wooden altar in the world carved by Master Paul of Levoča. Spišská Sobota – small medieval craftsmen’s town, St. George Church with five spectacular wooden altars of late gothic.
Tour 2. Dunajec river raft trip in Pieniny national park
Rafting through the Dunajec river gorge on wooden rafts (about 1,5 hrs., spectacular, romantic, not white water). Open air museum underneath the Lubovňa castle, wooden Greek-Catholic church, precious wooden architecture of the Zamagurie region. Kežmarok – the wooden protestant church (UNESCO) - the jewel of Slovak baroque architecture.
Tour 3. Hiking in the Slovak Paradise (Slovensky raj)
Beautiful hiking through a gorge which is typical for the Slovak Paradise (ca. 5 hours walking), mountain streams, waterfalls, and fallen trees covered by lichens, passable only by wooden or iron vertical ladders and chains.
The banquet is planned in Grand Hotel Bellevue on Thursday, September 3, 2015.
Weather
Typical August/September weather in High Tatra Mountains means clear skies in the morning, and then ever more clouds appearing (and descending) throughout the day. The average monthly high temperatures in this time of year in the lower slopes of the High Tatras stay around 20 degrees Celsius. It can be quite cold and sometimes windy in the higher regions, so bring warm clothes even if it’s warm and sunny in the valley.
Emergency contacts
If you have any kind of emergency (e.g., at arrival), please call:
either the Grand Hotel Bellevue reception, at the number +421 52 4762111 (the reception will then transfer your message to the organizers of School);
or directly the organizers of the School: Fedor Šimkovic (+421 904924720), Dušan Štefánik (+421 903546941), Rupert Leitner (+420 …), Ivan Štekl (+420 …)
or (if it’s not very urgent) write a message to [email protected], which will be checked very often during all days of the School.
We remind you that, from abroad, the Slovakia Country Code is +421 and the Czech Republic Country Code is +420.
School Website and Email
The website of the VI International Pontecorvo Neutrino Physics School is http://theor.jinr.ru/~neutrino15/index.html. For email communication, please contact us (the Organizing Committee) at the address [email protected] .
We wish you a nice and safe trip. See you in High Tatra Mountains!