AIP FYI #67: NRC Report Addresses Interface Between Physics and Astronomy

“We are at a special moment in our journey to understand the
universe and the physical laws that govern it. More than ever
before astronomical discoveries are driving the frontiers of
elementary particle physics, and more than ever before our
knowledge of the elementary particles is driving progress in
understanding the universe and its contents.” – Report by the
NRC Committee on the Physics of the Universe

A recent NRC report identifies the most important, timely and
promising scientific questions at the intersection of physics and
astronomy, and suggests an action plan for seeking the answers.
“The advances made by physicists in understanding the deepest
inner workings of matter, space and time and by astronomers in
understanding the universe as a whole as well as the objects
within it have brought these scientists together in new ways,”
the report says. “The questions now being asked about the
universe at its two extremes – the very large and the very small
– are inextricably intertwined, both in the asking and in the
answering, and astronomers and physicists have been brought
together to address questions that capture everyone’s
imagination.”

The report, “Connecting Quarks with the Cosmos: Eleven Science
Questions for the New Century,” is the work of the ad hoc
Committee on the Physics of the Universe, chaired by Michael
Turner of the University of Chicago. Phase I of the committee’s
report was released in January 2001; the prepublication copy of
the final report became available in April 2002. It is intended
to complement two prior NRC reports that highlighted scientific
priorities in these fields: “Astronomy and Astrophysics in the
New Millennium” and “Physics in a New Era: An Overview” (see FYIs
#62, 2000 and #90, 2001).

Below are the questions identified by the Committee as “the key
research issues facing the research community” at the interface
between astronomy and physics. The first five chapters of the
report provide background on current scientific understanding of
these issues and how the Committee arrived at these questions.
FYI #68 will contain the Committee’s recommendations for a
research strategy to explore these questions.

The eleven questions are:

– What is the dark matter?

– What is the nature of the dark energy?

– How did the universe begin?

– Did Einstein have the last word on gravity?

– What are the masses of the neutrinos, and how have they shaped
the evolution of the universe?

– How do cosmic accelerators work and what are they accelerating?

– Are protons unstable?

– Are there new states of matter at exceedingly high density and
temperature?

– Are there additional spacetime dimensions?

– How were the elements from iron to uranium made?

– Is a new theory of matter and light needed at the highest

energies?

According to the report, “Each question reveals the
interdependence between discovering the physical laws that govern
the universe and understanding its birth and evolution and the
objects within it. The whole of each question is greater than
the sum of the astronomy part and the physics part of which it is
comprised…. Taken as a whole, the questions address an
emerging model of the universe that connects physics at the most
microscopic scales to the properties of the universe and its
contents on the largest physical scales.”

The Committee’s suggestions for pursuing these research goals
will be highlighted in the next FYI.

The prepublication version of the approximately 164-page report
can be read online at
http://www.nationalacademies.org/bpa/projects/cpu/report. The
hardcopy version is not yet available from the National Academy
Press.

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Audrey T. Leath

Media and Government Relations Division

The American Institute of Physics

fyi@aip.org

(301) 209-3094

http://www.aip.org/gov

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