High-Energy Physics Advisory Panel Unveils 20-Year Plan for U.S. Particle Physics

Washington, D.C-The High Energy Physics Advisory Panel to the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation today (January 28) made public the report of the HEPAP Subpanel on Long Range Planning for U.S. High Energy Physics. The report, which HEPAP transmitted today to DOE and NSF, outlines a plan to maintain U.S. leadership in the field of high-energy physics for the next 20 years.

The 22-member Subpanel, chaired by physicists Jonathan Bagger, of The Johns Hopkins University, and Barry Barish, of Caltech, spent a year of information gathering and consultation with hundreds of U.S. particle physicists from across the nation, as well as foreign colleagues, before presenting the report to HEPAP. In transmitting the plan, the Panel's chair, physicist Fred Gilman of Carnegie Mellon University, focused on the scientific opportunities now emerging for the field of particle physics.

"High-energy physics is entering an extraordinary period of discovery," Gilman said. "Are there extra dimensions of space? What is the dark matter that makes up the majority of our universe? What unknown mechanism gives mass to particles? Solving these mysteries will be an epochal chapter in the history of science. Physicists now have within reach the technology and understanding to find the answers. We believe the HEPAP recommendations provide a road map to allow U.S. physicists to remain among the world's leaders during the era of discovery that lies ahead over the next twenty years."

Among the report's principal recommendations is that a high-energy, high-luminosity, linear particle accelerator should be designed, built and operated as a fully international collaboration.

"The world physics community agrees that a linear collider is the right choice for the next major physics facility," Barish said. "There are initial proposals to build such a collider in Germany, Japan and in the United States. Although there are many steps to be taken to decide design, funding and collaboration issues before such a project can go forward, our subpanel strongly recommends that U.S. scientists participate in this initiative wherever it is built. We propose that a steering group be set up immediately to coordinate U.S. participation in a linear collider."

The panel further recommends that the United States prepare to bid to host the initiative.

"Building the linear collider would bring one of the great scientific projects of our time to the United States," said Johns Hopkins' Bagger, "together with its associated intellectual, educational, technological and economic benefits."

The panel estimates that the cost of constructing the 30-km (18-mile) long collider in the United States would be $5 to $7 billion, with one-third of the financing coming from international contributions and a further $1 to $2 billion from realignment in the current U.S. particle physics program.

The report calls for a new planning mechanism for setting priorities in the field of particle physics. It proposes the creation of a Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel, dubbed "P5," to assess and prioritize proposed experiments and other research initiatives to ensure the highest scientific return on public funding for particle physics.

The HEPAP roadmap reflects the need for a variety of techniques and experimental approaches to achieve scientific goals, physicists said.

"Particle physics requires forefront accelerators at the energy and luminosity frontiers," said University of Oregon physicist Jim Brau, an experimenter at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. "However our plan also recognizes the need for innovative experiments in space and deep underground. A balanced approach that strengthens the increasingly important links to astrophysics, cosmology and nuclear physics is the foundation for a future of scientific discovery in our field."

The report stresses that a strong university program is fundamental to the future vitality of High Energy physics.

"Universities train the next generation of scientists, providing a platform for education and outreach, and the opportunity to connect with scientists in other fields," said Cornell University physicist Persis Drell, a member of the Subpanel. "Maintaining the interest and motivation of young Americans in the physical sciences is an investment in the nation's future."

The HEPAP report presents a focused way forward for U.S. particle physics, members of the Subpanel said. Its recommendations are long term, underlining the need for careful coordination and planning in a field characterized by global partnerships and in which most experiments begin taking data years after they were originally conceived.

In an accompanying letter to DOE and NSF, HEPAP Chair Gilman stressed the importance of basic science for national security and economic strength, but acknowledged the challenges that particle physicists will face in carrying out their plan.

"Responding to this plan will take resources, creativity and determination, together with the commitment of the American people and the government." Gilman wrote. "But this is not the time to shy away from challenges, especially when the benefits from success are clear. By making a renewed commitment to our scientific and technical base, we will be repaid by strengthened international cooperation and a new level of U.S. leadership and achievement in science and technology together with the benefits that flow from them."

The Report of the DOE/NSF High-Energy Physics Advisory Panel Subpanel on Long Range Planning for U.S. High-Energy Physics, and the accompanying letter from HEPAP Chair Fred Gilman, are available online at http://bohr.pha.jhu.edu/~bagger/report.pdf

Media Contact: Fred Gilman, 412-268-8848 gilman@cmuhep2.phys.cmu.edu