ESA Science & Technology - Fundamental Physics Roadmap Workshop

Introduction

The Fundamental Physics Roadmap Advisory Team, FPR-AT, has been assembled by ESA in order to draw a recommendation on the scientific and technological roadmap necessary to lead Europe toward the realization of future space missions in the framework of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 plan in the field of fundamental physics.

The FPR-AT is preparing a roadmap document based on White Papers submitted to ESA by the scientific community.

The draft roadmap document has been presented to the scientific community at a workshop organised by the FPR-AT in January 2010. These web pages host all details about the workshop:

http://sci.esa.int/fprworkshop 
 

• Tests of fundamental laws and principles, e.g. equivalence principle, constancy of fundamental constants, inverse square gravitational law;
   
• Detection and study of gravitational waves;
   
• Quantum mechanics in a clean environment;
   
• Cold atom physics, new frequency standards, and quantum technologies;
   
• The fundamental physics of dark energy and dark matter;
   
• Space-based efforts in astroparticles: high energy cosmic particles, antimatter, etc.

First announcement

31 Aug 2009

Dear Colleague,

The Fundamental Physics Roadmap Advisory Team (FPR-AT) is pleased to invite you to the

FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS ROADMAP WORKSHOP
21-22 January 2010
ESTEC, Room Newton
Keplerlaan 1, Noordwijk - The Netherlands

The FPR-AT has been assembled by the European Space Agency in order to draw a recommendation on the scientific and technological roadmap necessary to lead Europe toward the realization of future space missions in the framework of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 plan in the field of fundamental physics. The following scientific domains will be covered:

• Tests of fundamental laws and principles, e.g. equivalence principle, constancy of fundamental constants, inverse square gravitational law;
• Detection and study of gravitational waves;
• Quantum mechanics in a clean environment;
• Cold atom physics, new frequency standards, and quantum technologies;
• The fundamental physics of dark energy and dark matter;
• Space-based efforts in astroparticles: high energy cosmic particles, antimatter, etc.

A draft of the roadmap document will be made available by the FPR-AT in the fall of 2009; this document will be publicly presented and finalized together with the scientific community on the occasion of the Fundamental Physics Roadmap Workshop. The event will provide the participants with a forum to discuss science goals and technologies relevant for conducting fundamental physics studies in space.

A dedicated web page (this page and related articles), reachable from the FPR-AT website (http://sci.esa.int/fprat - see link to FPR-AT home page in right-hand menu), will be put in place to announce the programme, allow for registration, and provide further details on the event organization. The workshop will be free of charge.

For the time being please, book the dates in your agenda. Further details will follow.

The FPR-AT members are looking forward to meeting you in ESTEC.

Kind regards,

Pierre Binetruy (Chair), Astroparticule et Cosmologie, France
Luigi Cacciapuoti (Secretary), ESA, The Netherlands
Philippe Bouyer, Institut d'Optique, France
Mike Cruise ,University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
Luciano Iess, Università "La Sapienza", Italy
Gijs Nelemans, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Ernst Rasel, Universität Hannover, Germany
Stephan Schiller, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Germany
Wolfgang Schleich, Universität Ulm, Germany
Alicia Sintes, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Spain
Alan Watson, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
William Weber, Università di Trento, Italy
Peter Wolf, Observatoire de Paris, France

Registration

In order to attend the Fundamental Physics Roadmap Workshop you must complete the registration form (under Related Links in the right-hand menu). After completing and successfully submiting the form, you will receive an automatic confirmation message at the email address provided by you.

The deadline for registration has passed
(18 January 2010)

Costs
The workshop is free of charge.

Programme (updated)

A draft of the roadmap document prepared by FPR-AT is now publicly available and posted on the FPR-AT website. It can be downloaded from the right-hand menu under the "Documentation" section. This document has been presented and discussed together with the scientific community on the occasion of the FPR workshop. The final version of the roadmap should be available by March 2010.

The event provided the participants with a forum to discuss science goals and technologies relevant for conducting fundamental physics studies in space.

The invited speakers were:
A. Masiero (INFN, Italy)
C. Salomon (ENS, France)
B. Schutz (AEI, Germany)

Workshop programme and presentations

The workshop presentations are available in PDF format and can be downloaded from the programme table below, in the rightmost column.

The workshop programme can also be downloaded as a PDF from the right-hand menu.

Venue (updated)

The workshop is held at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), the ESA establishment in the Netherlands, in the conference room 'Newton'.

Address
European Space Research and Technology Centre
Keplerlaan 1
2201 AZ Noordwijk
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 71 565 6565
Fax: +31 71 565 6040

Logistics
Badges will have to be prepared by the ESTEC security at the entrance gate. In order to speed up the process, we recommend bringing with you a copy of your passport or ID card on your arrival.

How to get to ESA/ESTEC

ESTEC is located at the southern tip of Noordwijk.

By car
From Den Haag (The Hague): take the A4 (direction Amsterdam) and exit at "Leiden". Follow the N206 towards Katwijk and Haarlem. Take the exit "Katwijk Noord". From there follow signs to "ESTEC" (small white squares).

From Amsterdam: take the A4 (direction Den Haag-Rotterdam) then at the junction follow the A44. Take the exit "Noordwijk-Voorhout", continue to Noordwijk and from there, follow signs to "ESTEC".

By train
From Leiden Centraal station, take the number 32 bus to Katwijk. The bus stops in front of the ESTEC entrance gate. Please note that this bus leaves twice an hour during peak periods and only once an hour during normal hours. Journey time is approx. 30 minutes.

By plane
From Schiphol airport, either take a taxi to ESTEC (30 min), or a train to Leiden (15 min) and then the number 32 bus (see train directions above) (30 min.). By rental car, follow the "By car" instructions as above from Amsterdam.

Hotel Accommodation

For the Hotel accommodation, we recommend to contact the ESTEC travel office:

BCD Travel
Inplant ESA-ESTEC
Keplerlaan 1
2201 AZ Noordwijk
Tel: +31 71 565 8030
Fax: +31 71 565 5859
Email: estec.TravelOfficeesa.int

REMINDER: Complete your registration and hotel booking as soon as possible. Hotel booking via the ESTEC travel office will be possible only up to Thursday 14 January 2010 (CoB).

A number of hotel rooms in the Noordwijk area have been reserved for the Workshop attendees.

Note: the above hotel rates are indicative and could be subject to adjustment with the beginning of 2010.

Please, mention the FPR Workshop when making your hotel reservation.

Bus transportation from the hotels to ESTEC and back on day 1 and to ESTEC on day 2 will be arranged.

Bus Details

The following bus route details can also be downloaded as a PDF from the right-hand menu.