Theoretical Astrophysics

1. Theoretical Astrophysics Who Are We? What Do We Do? How Are We Doing? What Challenges Face Us? DOE Program Review May 17, 2006

2. Who We Are 5 (-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 Jackson Kenji Kadota ( Minnesota) Pasquale Serpico ( Max Planck) Emiliano Sefussati Chris Vale + Long Term Visitors and Students Accepted jobs at: Cambridge, IAP, OSU, Bartol

3. Astronomical Probes of Physics Beyond Standard Model • Dark Energy • Dark Matter • Neutrino Mass • Inflation

4. 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”

5. 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

6. We have strong ties to experiments Involved in proposals, definition, simulations, pipelines, analysis Theoretical Astrophysics Move to 6 and new Particle Astrophysics Center should strengthen ties with Auger and CDMS

7. We have strong ties to experiments Involved in proposals, definition, simulations, pipelines, analysis Theoretical Astrophysics Move to 6, Particle Astrophysics Center, and Schramm Fellow Hooper has strengthened ties with Auger and CDMS

8. 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.

9. Example of Phenomenology: Tevatron & CDMS 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 Carena, Hooper, & Skands 2006

10. Example of Data Analysis: SDSS II ~130 Spectroscopically confirmed Type Ia Supernovae from the Fall 2005 Season First cosmology results expected this summer Frieman et al.

11. Paper Breakdown

12. Paper Breakdown

13. Paper Breakdown

14. 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

15. Hardware Purchased 4 quad servers + rack to be housed in Feynman Computing Center Strong starting point for enhanced program in numerical astrophysics

16. 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, …)

17. How Are We Doing? • 32/133 (24%) NASA ATP proposals funded • Grant for ~5 times higher than average grant • Evaluation: “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.

18. 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 KAISTKorea 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 Alumni get excellent faculty positions

19. 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

20. Budget

21. This is a vibrant field UC Davis Cosmology Group

22. 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

23. Summary • Profound Issues: Physics beyond the Standard Model from cosmology • Historically have been leaders in the field; continue to produce outstanding work motivated by founding principles • Major role in Experimental Astrophysics program • New component: computational cosmology • Cannot stand still in this competitive environment: need to maintain ties with particle physics