Theoretical Astrophysics

URA Visiting Committee

May 9, 2006

Who Are We?What Do We Do?How Are We Doing?What Challenges Face Us?

Who We Are5 (-1) Scientists: Scott Dodelson

Joshua Frieman Nick Gnedin Rocky Kolb ( Dept. Chair @ Chicago)Albert Stebbins

1 David Schramm Fellow:Dan Hooper

4 Postdoctoral Fellows:Mark JacksonKenji Kadota ( Minnesota)Pasquale Serpico ( Max Planck)Emiliano Sefussati Chris Vale

+ Long Term Visitors and Students Accepted jobs at: Cambridge, IAP, OSU, Bartol

Astronomical Probes of Physics Beyond Standard Model

Dark Energy

Dark Matter

Neutrino Mass

Inflation

Many panels of experts have emphasized the importance of this work

Connecting Quarks with the Cosmos “Determine the properties of dark energy” “Determine the neutrino masses, the constituents of the dark matter …”

Quantum Universe “What is dark matter?” “What are neutrinos telling us” “How can we solve the mystery of dark energy?”

Physics of the Universe “What is dark matter?” “What is the nature of dark energy?” “How did the universe begin?”

EPP2010 “Expand the program in particle astrophysics”

We had a large head start: our presence at FNAL gave us 2 huge advantages

Connection between ideas in particle physics & cosmology

Ties to experiments

We have strong ties to experiments

Theoretical Astrophysics

Move to 6 and new Particle Astrophysics Center should strengthen ties with Auger and CDMS

Involved in proposals, definition, simulations, pipelines, analysis

We have strong ties to experiments

Theoretical Astrophysics

Move to 6, Particle Astrophysics Center, and Schramm Fellow Hooper has strengthened ties with Auger and CDMS

Involved in proposals, definition, simulations, pipelines, analysis

Example of Theory: Details of Inflation

How non-Gaussian are the perturbations generated during inflation which are responsible for all structure in the universe today?

Standard Approach: fNL is constant. Brinson Fellow Liguori and collaborators probed its scale dependence.

Results: Level of non-Gaussianity appreciably larger than expected.

Example of Phenomenology: Tevatron & CDMS

Carena, Hooper, & Skands 2006

Two MSSM Higgses A/H should not be seen at Tevatron based on current CDMS constraints

Two MSSM Higgses A/H should not be seen at Tevatron based on 2007 CDMS constraints OR if CDMS sees signal in 2007, Tevatron should see A/H

Example of Data Analysis: SDSS II~130 Spectroscopically confirmed Type Ia

Supernovae from the

Fall 2005 Season

First cosmology

results expected

this summerFrieman et al.

1984

Theory

Phenomenology

Paper Breakdown

2001

ExperimentTheory

Phenomenology

Paper Breakdown

Paper Breakdown

FY2006

Phenomenology

Theory

Experiment

Nick Gnedin joined in August

One of World’s leading numerical cosmologists Collaborate w/ Computing Division Simulations key for interpreting SDSS, DES & SNAP data Open new areas: reionization, CMB anisotropies, Lyman alpha forest

Hardware

Purchased 2 quad servers + rack to be housed in Feynman Computing Center

Strong starting point for enhanced program in numerical astrophysics

Beyond research … Organize workshops which define the field (Dark Energy 1998, Halo Model 2001, Clusters 2004, TeV Astrophysics 2005, CMB-LSS Correlations 2006) Serve on committees which chart the future (DETF, JDEM Science Defintion Team, …) Munch! Explain results to broad audiences (Cosmology Course for Planetarium directors, popular lectures, books, …)

How Are We Doing?

32/133 (24%) NASA ATP proposals fundedGrant for ~5 times higher than average grantEvaluation: “There is no weakness in the group

of permanent astro-staff” and “… they arguably constitute the best collection of theoretical cosmologists in the world.” and “The group consistently attracts and trains very good postdocs, and places them in faculty jobs at elite institutions.

Alumni get excellent faculty positions

Alex Szalay Johns Hopkins Neil Turok DAMTP Andreas Albrecht UCDavis Keith A. Olive Minnesota David Seckel (Bartol) Lars Jensen North Dakota State Richard F. Holmon Carnegie-Mellon David P. Bennett Notre Dame Marcelo Gleiser Dartmouth Albert Stebbins Fermilab Edmund J. Copeland Sussex Angela Olinto Chicago Dongsu Ryu Chungnam University, Ruth A. Gregory Durham, England Esteban Roulet CONICET, Argentina Fay Dowker Imperial Scott Dodelson Fermilab James Gelb Texas, Arlington Robert Caldwell Dartmouth College Stephane Colombi IAP, Paris

Igor Tkachev CERN Andrew Heckler Ohio State Yun Wang University of Oklahoma Istvan Szapudi University of Hawaii Antonio Riotto INFN, Padova Will Kinney SUNY Buffalo Lam Hui Columbia Andrew Sornborger Georgia Ewan Stewart KAIST Korea Zoltan Haiman Columbia Pasquale Blasi INAF Firenze Michael Blanton New York University Idit Zehavi Case Western Reserve University Ravi Sheth University of Pennsylvania Kev Abazajian Maryland Patrick Greene Texas, San Antonio John Beacom Ohio State University Nicole Bell University of Melbourne Gianfranco Bertone IAP or APC Pengjie Zhang Shanghai Jochen Weller University College London

Funding

Currently receive 235k from NASA grant, plus Brinson funding for pre-doc and post-doc

NASA no longer gives group grants Will submit 2 separate proposals Also submitted SciDAC proposal with

LANL/UIUC

This is a vibrant field

UC Davis Cosmology Group

Established Collaborations with many of these groups

• Close Collaboration with Chicago (Students, SDSS, Dark Energy Survey, …)

• Working on SDSS with Princeton, Johns Hopkins, …

• Working on SNAP with LBL, Caltech, Michigan, Penn

• Parallel Computing, Summer Workshops with LANL

Summary

Profound Issues: Physics beyond the Standard Model from cosmology Continued/Strengthened ties with Experiments Hired top computational cosmologist Cannot stand still in this competitive environment: need to maintain ties with particle physics