The Centre for Particle Physics Phenomenology – CP³-Origins
has been established by the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF) and opened on the 1st of September 2009 at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense. CP³-Origins is initially funded by the DNRF for a duration of five years and will then be evaluated for a possible extension of five extra years.
The centre is also supported from other sources, including the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, the Villum Kann Rasmussen Foundation, the European Commission, Nordforsk, and the Danish Centre for Super Computing.
CP³-Origins goals
Mankind’s greatest achievements have come from the curiosity to know how the world works. Everything we see and even things we do not see are combinations of a handful of elementary particles. We live in a particle universe. Imminent explorations of the innermost structure of nature will soon lead to unprecedented heights in scientific discovery, invention and technological advancement. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is the most ambitious scientific experiment in the world and will set the agenda for particle physics for, at least, the next decade. It will accelerate two beams of protons in opposite directions around a 27km underground tunnel, until they reach almost the speed of light. The particles will then be collided creating energies higher than ever before.
We aim to exploit experimental results, supercomputers and our theoretical expertise to make the next big leap in particle physics:
Uncovering the Origin of Mass of all elementary particles.
We will also contribute in other equally relevant quests: understanding the phase diagram of strongly interacting theories and the origin of bright and dark matter in the universe.
Our current understanding of nature fails to explain the origin of dark matter or why matter dominates over antimatter, i.e. why there is something rather than nothing in the universe. The origin of mass problem is intimately connected to these fundamental questions, making it a central problem in physics.
Organization
The centre is lead by Professor Francesco Sannino and the administrative staff is constituted by a secretary Lone Charlotte Nielsen, and Jens Svalgaard Kohrt who is responsible for the IT.
Advisory board
To insure the maximum Nordic and international impact we have formed an international advisory board constituted by:
- Paul Hoyer, University of Helsinki, Finland. Chair of the Board
- Stanley J. Brodsky, Stanford University and SLAC Laboratory, USA
- Paolo Di Vecchia, NORDITA, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Michelangelo Mangano, CERN, Geneva Switzerland.
- Finn Ravndal, University of Oslo, Norway.
- Torbjörn Sjöstrand. University of Lund, Sweden.
The role of the board is to advertise the activities of the centre, promote its initiatives, advise on and facilitate the recruitment of the best possible scientist at CP³-Origins. Professor Hoyer will help the director in coordinating the board’s activities.
Beyond Physics
CP³-Origins is designed to have a multidisciplinary focus. The disciplines of advanced mathematics, computer science and particle physics will be the research fields which will synergize at the centre.
A significant computing effort is required in connecting models to experiments and in investigating strong dynamics. A thorough design and the efficient execution of physics software packages on serial and parallel computer architectures, as well as improvements of interfaces, extensions of functionalities and data handling is needed.
The computer science group at IMADA (Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science) will participate in the project under the leadership of Rolf Fagerberg. The group has a strong track record within parallel computing algorithms and algorithmic engineering and will take part in the further development of physics software used in particle physics phenomenology. Additionally, the computer science group will contribute further to the centre via student projects and theses based on computer science related topics in the area of particle physics phenomenology.
The theories behind the description of the particle universe have a significant mathematical content, particularly in the form of differential geometry, Lie group theory and topology. The mathematicians Andrew Swann and Martin Svensson have already a significant collaboration with the theoretical physics group at SDU, including a joint program of workshops, PhD schools and seminars. We will continue to strengthen this interaction, working jointly on models relevant for the experiments at the LHC.
Particle physics is the study of the fundamental constituents of matter and the forces of nature.
