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PARTICLE ASTROPHYSICS VII- 1 PARTICLE ASTROPHYSICS N9 1 - 3 3;0 -4f EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In the last few years, particle astrophysics has emerged as a new field at the frontier between high energy astrophysics, cosmology, and particle physics. A spectacular achievement of this new field in the last decade has been the establishment of neutrino astronomy with the detection of solar neutrinos by two independent experiments and the spectacular observation of the neutrinos from the supernova SN1987A. In addition, the field has produced tantalizing hints of new physics beyond the standard models of astrophysics and particle physics, generating enthusiastic attempts to confirm these potential effects. The next decade promises to be even more productive. Extrapolating within the present conceptual framework, we expect the next ten years to bring fascinating results on the following issues: • The elucidation of the nature of dark matter, especially if it is made of nonbaryonic particles. • The explanation of the solar neutrino puzzle and if a supernova explodes in our own galaxy, a detailed account of the explosion mechanism by the analysis of the emerging neutrinos. • The possible confirmation of the existence of point sources of energetic particles leading to the production of gamma rays, neutrinos and maybe new particles at energies as high as 1014eV. • The understanding of the origin of cosmic rays, including the physical processes responsible for their synthesis and acceleration on a wide variety of scales. It is even more likely that as yet unsuspected phenomena will be discovered, that entirely new concepts will be tested and that the deep link between particle physics, the early universe and the high energy astrophysical processes will be extended beyond what we can imagine today! In contrast with more mature observational fields, particle astrophysics is likely in the next decade to still be based on the succession of experiments which will increasingly sharpen their scientific focus. We see, therefore, the evolution of the field as governed by a number of decision points occurring in the next decade when the information from previous experiments or technological development becomes available: • The highest priority at the moment is the rapid implementation of the presently approved program of observations on the ground and in space. Within this program, existing neutrino detectors should be coordinated and maintained to provide an efficient supernova watch. • The technology is now available to tackle the question of the extragalactic origin of cosmic rays with the study of their spectrum at 1020 eV. We recommend that the high resolution Fly's Eye be supported, contingent on a favorable detailed technical review. • We foresee important funding decisions to be made in a few years when the required information will be available. If the feasibility of the cryogenic technologies can be demonstrated, it is clear that a full scale search for nonbaryonic dark matter will have very high priority. If the large extensive air shower detectors currently being deployed confirm the claims for localized gamma ray sources above 1014 eV, understanding these unsuspected acceleration mechanisms (and the new particle physics if the claimed anomalous muon content is substantiated) would require more powerful detectors. The results of current solar neutrino detectors may steer the field into new observational directions. Finally, if the early promise of gamma ray astronomy at 1012 eV is fulfilled, then larger installations will surely be required. The preparation for these decisions appearing on the horizon demands a strong development of new detection techniques: we emphasize in particular the cryogenic particle detectors for dark matter searches, the new solar neutrino schemes, and the test of the water Cerenkov technique for the detection of extensive air showers. Such a complex and fundamentally muitidisciplinary enterprise requires a strong theoretical activity and a variety of coordination mechanisms. Our main recommendation here is the establishment of a particle astrophysics VII-2 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS PANEL REPORT Advisory Panel which could advise the federal agencies involved in particle astrophysics (NSF, DOE and NASA) on the relative scientific priorities and help them set up long term policies. The emergence of a new scientific field Particle detection techniques have been essential to the development of high energy astrophysics since the first cosmic ray investigations in the early years of this century. Their role has been greatly expanded during the past decade as a variety of large experiments have begun to address fundamental astrophysical questions. Two of the most recent and important advances in astronomy have been made by the direct detection of neutrinos. Two independent experiments measured the solar neutrino flux using totally different techniques, and neutrinos from the supernova 1987A have been directly detected by experiments designed to observe proton decay. Moreover, observation of the electromagnetic spectrum from astrophysical objects has been extended above 1011 eV using ground based Cerenkov detectors. Evidence obtained with air shower arrays suggests that gamma radiation in excess of 1014 eV may also have been observed from astrophysical objects. Cosmic rays have been detected up to 1020 eV but their nature and origin at these energies remains a mystery, as does the means of their acceleration. In parallel, progress in the understanding of particle physics has suggested that the missing matter in the universe may consist of as yet undiscovered elementary particles, which are relics of the very earliest phases of the formation of the universe. It also appears that quantum fluctuations and topological singularities generated in phase transitions occurring at very high temperature in the early universe could have played a fundamental role in the formation of large scale structure. In addition, it is now well understood how the properties of neutrinos could be responsible for the solar neutrino puzzle, and the powerful acceleration mechanisms evidenced by the highest energy cosmic rays may require new particle physics. The discoveries and activities described above have been mostly carried out by an unconventional breed of "astronomers" whose backgrounds have been in particle or nuclear physics. The nature of the research ranges from solid experiments with well defined systematic goals to investigations which test speculative ideas or follow on experimental hints. Therefore, such a field is a vital and exciting one, with new ideas, new practitioners, and the certainty of scientific progress. It may well be that the cosmos is providing us with the first evidences for physics beyond the standard models of astrophysics and particle physics. In this new field, which we may call particle astrophysics, we can distinguish four interrelated areas dealing respectively with cosmology and particle physics, stellar physics and particles, high energy gamma and neutrino astrophysics (> 1012 eV) and cosmic ray astrophysics. We review first the essential scientific questions being tackled and the present experimental program, before turning to priorities and institutional questions. Cosmology and Particle Physics The physics of the early universe is intimately related to particle physics at the very highest energies and it is not possible to distinguish them in the quest for the answer to the fundamental questions of cosmology: What is the nature of the ubiquitous dark matter? What is the origin of the predominance of matter over antimatter? What is the explanation for the smoothness, flatness, and old age of the universe? What is the origin of the primeval inhomogeneities that triggered the formation of structure and eventually galaxies in the universe? Conversely, the cosmological observations provide essential constraints in the construction of unified theories of particle interactions and may be the only source of information on physics at the very highest energies (up to the Planck scale - 1019 GeV). Physics at these energies is difficult to probe in terrestrial laboratories and so, at the same time the early universe provides a natural laboratory in which physics at the most fundamental level can be studied. Particle Physics and the Early Universe The past decade has seen the consolidation of two standard models: the SU(3)xSU(2)xU(1) gauge theory of particle interactions and the Hot Big Bang model. The former provides a fundamental theory of the elementary particles and their interactions at distances down to 10 -17 cm (energies up to 103 GeV), while the latter provides an accurate accounting of the history of the Universe from about 10-2 sec after the origin of the universe. Encouraged by these impressive successes, particle physicists and cosmologists have begun to extrapolate to earlier times and attempted to answer the fundamental questions outlined above. The origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry seems PARTICLE ASTROPHYSICS VII-3 to involve forces that violate both CP and baryon number conservation. At very early times (10 -34 sec?) phase transitions may have played an important role. For instance, inflation provides a very attractive explanation for the flatness and old age of the universe and of the primeval density inhomogeneities. In addition, many theories that go beyond the particle physics standard model, such as supersymmetry, predict the existence of stable relic elementary particles that are left