05.05.2011 —

Current developments in astroparticle physics: The conference „Topics on Astroparticle and Underground Physics“ will be held under this motto. The international conference has been taking place every two years since 1989 in different locations. This year the conference will be coming to Germany for the first time, where astroparticle physics has experienced an enormous upswing over the past years. Approximately 350 scientists from all over the world are expected to attend. TAUP deals with topics such as cosmology, gravitational waves and dark matter – from theoretical as well as experimental perspectives. Laboratory experiments that are performed underground and thus protected from natural cosmic radiation („unterground physics“) will play particularly significant roles. An example of such an experiment is the CRESST experiment, with which scientists hope to identify the particles of Dark Matter.

The organizers of this year‘s TAUP are scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Physics, the Technische Universität München and the Excellence Cluster “Universe”. The scientific plenary program is subdivided into the main topics cosmology, dark matter, the physics of neutrinos, as well as gravitational waves, high-energy particles and photons which serve as astrophysical messengers harboring important information. In addition to this, there will be seven parallel lecture series, in which the main topics will be dealt with in detail. Dark matter in particular promises to be an exciting topic: Scientists have been endeavoring for years to detect the particles which make up Dark Matter. WIMPS are considered the most promising but not the only candidates. WIMPs are weakly interacting massive particles. The participants of TAUP, however, will also delve into „ordinary“ matter: To this day there is still no explanation as to how the tiny surplus of particles of matter developed in contrast to anti-matter in the young Universe – the reason why we live in a matter-dominated Universe. 

The organizers were able to attract renowned international experts as lecturers. Francois Bouchet the scientific leader of the “Planck” satellite mission, initiated in 2009, will talk about the current research results of cosmic microwave background radiation. Eli Waxman from the Weizman Institute in Israel will report on new findings in astronomy with high-energy radiation. With Manfred Lindner of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics und Angela Olinto from the University of Chicago the organizers are welcoming two other expert researchers from the field of astroparticle physics. The closing speaker will be Hitoshi Murayama, leader of the Institute for Mathematics and Physics of the Universe in Tokyo. He will summarize the outcome of the plenary meetings and provide a look at the years to come.

„We‘re pleased that we were able to bring TAUP 2011 to Munich“, says Dr. Georg Raffelt, one of the two main organizers. „The international conference is taking place for the 12th time this year – and for the first time in Germany. Important research centers with the main focus on astroparticle physics have been established here over the past years“. “German institutes and scientists are participating and leading in large-scale international experiments such as Borexino, CRESST and Double-Chooz“, the co-organizer Prof. Lothar Oberauer adds. „Moreover astroparticle physics is developing more and more into an interdisciplinary science for the study of basic cosmological and astrophysical principles. Accordingly, this year’s TAUP is finding great acceptance“.

Invitation to Journalists

Journalists are warmly welcomed to participate at the 12th TAUP in Munich. Those who are interested please register under http://taup2011.mpp.mpg.de/?pg=Press by 15 August 2011. Further information regarding the program and the conference agenda can be found under http://taup2011.mpp.mpg.de.

Press Contacts:

Barbara Wankerl
PR Manager
Excellence Cluster Universe/TUM
Tel: +49.89.35831-7105
barbara.wankerl@universe-cluster.de
www.universe-cluster.de

Silke Zollinger
PR Officer
Max Planck Institute for Physics
Tel: +49.89.32354-292
silke.zollinger@mpp.mpg.de
www.mpp.mpg.de