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Status and Perspectives of Astroparticle Physics in Europe Astronomical Science Status and Perspectives of Astroparticle Physics in Europe Christian Spiering 1996 Mk (DESY – Deutsches Elektronen-Synchro- n 42 tron, Zeuthen, Germany) 1 Mk n 50 Astroparticle physics has evolved as an 1 interdisciplinary field at the intersec - tion of particle physics, astronomy and cosmology. Over the last two decades, Crab it has moved from infancy to techno- Nebula logical maturity and is now envisaging projects on the 100 M€ scale. This price tag requires international coordination, cooperation and convergence to a few flagship projects. The Roadmap Com- mittee of ApPEC (Astroparticle Physics European Coordination) has recently 1E 2006 S Mk H 12 M 87 1 released a roadmap covering the next n 42 14 8+30 26 1 +4 .4 ten years. ApPEC is a corporation of 28 Mk European funding agencies promoting n PG 18 Mk 0 15 astroparticle physics. HE n HE HE 1E 50 53+1 SS S SS 1 SS 11 J1 1 J1 J1 Ve 63 01 1E 82 G0 30 la + 23 S 5– .9 4– 3– Junior 19 1 +0 47 63 2 59 + 37 In 2002, Ray Davis and Masatoshi .1 2 1 LS Te 65 LS GC RX MS PS I + CAS V 0 Ve J2 5039 J1 H R la Koshiba were awarded the Nobel Prize in 61 B1 Crab 1E A 03 71 15 X 303 3. 25 S 23 2 + –5 Physics for opening the neutrino window 7– 2 9–6 Nebula 41 3946 44 31 3 to the Universe, specifically for the de- + 51 PKS 20 tection of neutrinos from the Sun and the 4 H 23 05 Supernova SN 1987A in the Large Magel- PKS –4 50 89 –3 21 09 lanic Cloud. Their work was a unique syn- 55 –3 thesis of particle physics and astrophys- 04 ics. Solar neutrinos also provided the first clear evidence that neutrinos have mass. Figure 1: The TeV AGN Other or unidentified Background colours It is this interdisciplinary field at the in- gamma-ray sky as seen Plerion or ambiguous identi- indicate northern (blue)/ in 1996 and 2006. Shell Type SNR fication southern (yellow) sky. tersection of particle physics, astronomy (Graphic courtesy Binary System and cosmology which has been chris- Konrad Bernlöhr, MPIfK) tened astroparticle physics. Basic questions An answer to any of these questions The detection of solar and supernova would mark a major breakthrough in un- neutrinos is not the only new window to Recommendations of the Roadmap com- derstanding the Universe and would the Universe opened by astroparticle mittee (http://www.aspera-eu.org) were open an entirely new field of research on physics. Another one is that of high ener- formulated by addressing a set of basic its own. getic gamma rays recorded by ground- questions: based Cherenkov telescopes. From 1. What are the constituents of the the first source detected in 1989, three Universe? In particular: What is dark Search for Dark Matter sources known in 1996, to nearly 40 matter? sources identified by the end of 2006, the 2. Do protons have a finite life time? The favoured solution to the Dark Matter high-energy sky has revealed a stunning 3. What are the properties of neutrinos? mystery assumes Weakly Interacting richness of new phenomena and puzzling What is their role in cosmic evolution? Massive Particles (WIMPs) produced in details (see Figure 1). Other branches 4. What do neutrinos tell us about the the early Universe. A natural candidate of astroparticle physics have not yet pro- interior of the Sun and the Earth, and for WIMPs is the lightest particle of Mini- vided such gold-plated discoveries, but about supernova explosions? mal SuperSymmetric Models (MSSM), have moved into unprecedented sensitiv- 5. What is the origin of cosmic rays? the neutralino. WIMP searches focus on ity regions with rapidly increasing discov- What is the view of the sky at extreme the detection of nuclear recoils from ery potential – like the search for dark energies? WIMPs interacting in underground detec- matter particles, the search for decaying 6. What will gravitational waves tell us tors (Baudis 2005, Sadoulet 2007). No protons or the attempt to determine about violent cosmic processes and WIMP candidate has been found so far. the absolute values of neutrino masses. about the nature of gravity? Assuming that all Dark Matter is made of these exotic particles, present experi- The Messenger 129 – September 2007 33 Astronomical Science Spiering C., Status and Perspectives of Astroparticle Physics in Europe ments with a several kg target mass can 10 24 Figure 2: The ‘grand unified’ neutrino spec- therefore exclude WIMPS with interac tion 20 10 trum. cross section larger than ~ 10–43 cm2. Cosmological ν MSSM predictions for neutralino cross 10 16 – 47 – 41 2 Solar sections range from 10 to 10 cm . 10 12 ν Experimental sensitivities will be boosted Supernova burst (1987A) –44 2 10 8 to 10 cm in about a year and may ) –1 –46 2 Terrestrial anti-ν reach, with ton-scale detectors, 10 cm 10 4 Reactor anti-ν MeV in 7–8 years. Therefore, there is a fair –1 1 Background from old supernova chance to detect dark matter particles in sr –1 –4 the next decade – provided the progress s 10 –2 in background rejection can be realised 10 –8 and provided Dark Matter is made of su- –12 Atmospheric ν persymmetric particles. Presently fa- Flux (cm 10 voured candidate devices are ‘bolomet- –16 10 ν from AGN ric’ detectors operated at a temperature –20 of 10–20 mK which detect the feeble 10 heat, ionisation and scintillation signals 10 –24 GZK ν from WIMP interactions, and noble liq- 10 –28 uid detectors (Xe or Ar) recording ionisa- 10 –6 10 –3 1 10 3 10 6 10 9 10 12 10 15 10 18 tion and scintillation. A variety of present- µeV meV eV keV MeV GeV TeV PeV EeV ly more than 20 Dark Matter experiments Neutrino energy worldwide must, within several years, converge to two or three few ton-scale experiments with negligible background. AGN) will likely be detected by neutrino Neutrino properties: neutrino-less double Proton decay and low-energy neutrino telescopes in the next decade (see be- beta decay astronomy low), no practicable idea exists how to detect 1.9 K cosmological neutrinos, the In the context of astroparticle physics, Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) of particle analogue to the 2.7 K microwave radia- neutrinos – rather than being the subject physics predict that the proton has a tion. of research – mainly play the role of finite lifetime. The related physics may be messengers: from the Sun, from a super- closely linked to the physics of the Big A next-generation proton decay detector nova, from active galaxies. Still, some Bang and the cosmic matter-antimatter could record neutrinos from a galactic of their properties remain undetermined. asymmetry. Data from the Super-Kamio- supernova with unprecedented statis- From the oscillatory behaviour of neu- kande detector in Japan constrain the tics: 104–10 5 events, compared to only trinos we can deduce that the masses of proton lifetime to be larger than 1034 years, 20 events for SN 1987A. It would also the three neutrino species differ from tantalisingly close to predictions of vari- allow a precise study of the solar interior each other. But what are the absolute val- ous GUT models. A sensitivity improve- and of neutrinos generated deep in ues of their masses? Further: are neutri- ment of an order of magnitude requires the Earth. Three detection techniques are nos their own antiparticles (‘Majorana detectors on the 105–10 6 ton scale. currently studied: Water-Cherenkov particles’)? Specifically these two ques- detectors (like Super-Kamiokande, see tions could be answered by the obser- Proton decay detectors do also detect de Bellefon et al. 2006), liquid scintillator vation of a radioactive decay called neu- cosmic neutrinos. Figure 2 shows a detectors and liquid argon detectors. trino-less double beta decay (Vogl 2006). ‘grand unified neutrino spectrum’. Solar They will be evaluated in the context of a To reach the sensitivity for a mass range neutrinos, burst neutrinos from SN 1987A, common design study which will also of 20–50 meV, as suggested by various reactor neutrinos, terrestrial neutrinos address the underground infrastructure theoretical models, one needs detectors and atmospheric neutrinos have been al- and the possibility of detecting neutrinos with an active mass of the order of one ready detected. They would be also in the from future accelerator beams. This ton, good resolution and very low back- focus of a next-stage proton decay de- design study should converge, on a time ground. Construction of such detectors is tector. Another guaranteed – although not scale of 2010, to a common proposal. envisaged to start in 2013–2015. Different yet detected – flux is that of neutrinos The total cost depends on the method nuclear isotopes and different experi- generated in collisions of ultra-energetic and the actual size, and is estimated mental techniques are needed to estab- protons with the 3-K cosmic microwave between 400 and 800 M€. With the start lish the effect and extract a neutrino background (CMB), the so-called GZK of civil engineering in 2012 or 2013, only a mass value. The price tag for one of these (Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin) neutrinos. third of this amount might be due before experiments is at the 50–200 M€ scale, Whereas GZK neutrinos as well as neutri- 2016. with the large range in cost being due to nos from active galactic nuclei (marked the production cost for different isotopes.
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