No Arabic abstract
ESO and ESA agreed to establish a number of Working Groups to explore possible synergies between these two major European astronomical institutions. This Working Groups mandate was to concentrate on fundamental questions in cosmology, and the scope for tackling these in Europe over the next ~15 years. One major resulting recommendation concerns the provision of new generations of imaging survey, where the image quality and near-IR sensitivity that can be attained only in space are naturally matched by ground-based imaging and spectroscopy to yield massive datasets with well-understood photometric redshifts (photo-zs). Such information is essential for a range of new cosmological tests using gravitational lensing, large-scale structure, clusters of galaxies, and supernovae. Great scope in future cosmology also exists for ELT studies of the intergalactic medium and space-based studies of the CMB and gravitational waves; here the synergy is less direct, but these areas will remain of the highest mutual interest to the agencies. All these recommended facilities will produce vast datasets of general applicability, which will have a tremendous impact on broad areas of astronomy.
Various techniques are being used to search for extra-solar planetary signatures, including accurate measurement of radial velocity and positional (astrometric) displacements, gravitational microlensing, and photometric transits. Planned space experiments promise a considerable increase in the detections and statistical knowledge arising especially from transit and astrometric measurements over the years 2005-15, with some hundreds of terrestrial-type planets expected from transit measurements, and many thousands of Jupiter-mass planets expected from astrometric measurements. Beyond 2015, very ambitious space (Darwin/TPF) and ground (OWL) experiments are targeting direct detection of nearby Earth-mass planets in the habitable zone and the measurement of their spectral characteristics. Beyond these, `Life Finder (aiming to produce confirmatory evidence of the presence of life) and `Earth Imager (some massive interferometric array providing resolved images of a distant Earth) appear as distant visions. This report, to ESA and ESO, summarises the direction of exo-planet research that can be expected over the next 10 years or so, identifies the roles of the major facilities of the two organisations in the field, and concludes with some recommendations which may assist development of the field. The report has been compiled by the Working Group members and experts over the period June-December 2004.
(Abridged) We consider the scientific case for a large aperture (10-12m class) optical spectroscopic survey telescope with a field of view comparable to that of LSST. Such a facility could enable transformational progress in several areas of astrophysics, and may constitute an unmatched capability for decades. Deep imaging from LSST and Euclid will provide accurate photometry for spectroscopic targets beyond the reach of 4m class instruments. Such a facility would revolutionise our understanding of the assembly and enrichment history of the Milky Way and the role of dark matter through chemo-dynamical studies of tens of millions of stars in the Local Group. Emission and absorption line spectroscopy of redshift z=2-5 galaxies can be used to directly chart the evolution of the cosmic web and examine its connection with activity in galaxies. The facility will also have synergistic impact, e.g. in following up live and transpired transients found with LSST, as well as providing targets and the local environmental conditions for follow-up studies with E-ELT and future space missions. Although our study is exploratory, we highlight a specific telescope design with a 5 square degree field of view and an additional focus that could host a next-generation panoramic IFU. We discuss some technical challenges and operational models and recommend a conceptual design study aimed at completing a more rigorous science case in the context of a costed technical design.
The report summarizes the results of the activities of the Working Group on Precision Calculations for the Z Resonance at CERN during 1994.
In 2002, Ray Davis and Masatoshi Koshiba were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics ``for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, in particular for the detection of cosmic neutrinos. However, while astronomy has undergone a revolution in understanding by synthesizing data taken at many wavelengths, the universe has only barely been glimpsed in neutrinos, just the Sun and the nearby SN 1987A. An entire universe awaits, and since neutrinos can probe astrophysical objects at densities, energies, and distances that are otherwise inaccessible, the results are expected to be particularly exciting. Similarly, the revolution in quantitative cosmology has heightened the need for very precise tests that depend on the effects of neutrinos, and prominent among them is the search for the effects of neutrino mass, since neutrinos are a small but known component of the dark matter. In this report, we highlight some of the key opportunties for progress in neutrino astrophysics and cosmology, and the implications for other areas of physics.
Report of the Higgs working group for the Workshop Physics at TeV Colliders, Les Houches, France 8-18 June 1999. It contains 6 separate sections: 1. Measuring Higgs boson couplings at the LHC. 2. Higgs boson production at hadron colliders at NLO. 3. Signatures of Heavy Charged Higgs Bosons at the LHC. 4. Light stop effects and Higgs boson searches at the LHC. 5. Double Higgs production at TeV Colliders in the MSSM. 6. Programs and Tools for Higgs Bosons.