2015 SUMMER
PROGRAM
* denotes the organizer
responsible for participant diversity in
the workshop
May 24 – September
13
Individual Research
Physicists are encouraged
to apply as individual researchers to work
on their own projects for up to five weeks
at any time during the summer. We provide
a serene atmosphere to complete work. The
individual researcher may also choose to
attend any workshop meetings or chat with
other scientists in residence in addition
to working on his or her own research.
Click here for more
information.
May
24 – September 13
Working Group
Working groups of between two and six
physicists are encouraged. Click here for more
information.
May 24 - June 14
Understanding
Strongly Coupled Systems in High
Energy and Condensed Matter
Physics
Organizers:
Richard Brower, Boston
University
Simon Catterall, Syracuse
University
Shailesh Chandrasekharan*,
Duke University
Anders W. Sandvik,
Boston University
Richard Scalettar
University of California, Davis
Uwe-Jens Wiese,
University of Bern
Understanding strongly
coupled quantum systems has become a
unifying theme for both condensed matter
and particle physcists. The possibility of
finding that Higgs could be a composite
particle that emerges from a new strongly
interacting sector is encouraging particle
physicists to explore a variety of gauge
theories. At the same time the discovery
of many materials that show strong
correlation effects is forcing condensed
matter physicists to look for explanations
that go beyond the standard paradigms,
including emergent gauge fields, non-Fermi
liquids and topological phases.
Interestingly, the challenges that the two
communities face are quite similar and the
goal of the workshop is to bring together
experts from both communities to
facilitate discussion. Topics of common
interest include phase structure and
dynamics in strongly coupled systems,
especially in the vicinity of quantum
critical points. Questions related to
these topics appear in the study of
quantum antiferromagnets, superconductors,
metal-insulator transitions, dense nuclear
matter, conformal and near conformal gauge
theories, holographic models, and
topological field theories. Through the
exchange of ideas involving theoretical
insights and advances in computational
algorithms, and by exploring the
possibility of developing quantum
simulators to study the underlying
problems, the hope is to initiate future
collaborations between the two communities
and to encourage younger scientists to see
their work within a broader framework.
May 24
- June 14
The Dynamic
Universe; Understanding ExaScale
Astronomical Synoptic Surveys
Organizers:
Conny Aerts, Leuven
University
Ryan Chornock, Ohio
University
Paul Groot*, Radboud
University
Mansi Kasliwal, California
Institute of Technology
Selma de Mink, California
Institute of Technology
Brian Schmidt, Australian
National University
The aim of the Dynamic
Universe workshop is to bring together
those researchers working on a variety of
synoptic surveys that are currently
ongoing or about to start. The workshop
addresses issues in common to all synoptic
surveys, in particular concentrating on
sample homogeneity, derivations of
occurrence rates, selection biases, proper
sample statistics, machine-learning
algorithms, and propagation of
uncertainties. We will also include
'lessons-learnt' sessions to allow a
maximal flow of information among the
various project teams. It is the aim to
bring together members from a large
variety of (optical) surveys, communities
that normally are not always in direct
interaction with each other, due to
different astrophysical foci of the
synoptic surveys. E.g. we aim to get
together representatives from supernovae
searches, asteroseismology, eclipsing
binaries, exoplanetary transit searches,
together with members from mathematical
stochastics and machine-learning computer
scientists.
May
24 - June 21
CSI PTA:
Computation, Systematics, and
Inference for Pulsar-Timing Arrays,
and Beyond
Organizers:
Michael Kramer, Max
Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Andrea Lommen*, Franklin
& Marshall College
Samaya M. Nissanke,
Radboud University
Xavi Siemens, University
of Wisconsin
Michele Vallisneri*, California
Institute of Technology
The precision timing of
an array of millisecond pulsars across
several years offers the opportunity of
searching for nanohertz gravitational
waves from supermassive black-hole
binaries as well as primordial sources.
Achieving the first detection requires
advances in three crucial research
directions (designing computation,
controlling complex physical systematics,
and structuring astrophysical inference
for maximum insight), which are common to
many other areas of modern astronomy and
astrophysics. This program focuses on
these general problems for the specific
case of pulsar-timing arrays, and it aims
to bring together pulsar experts with
other specialists (such as CMB analysts,
exoplanet observers, gravitational-wave
phenomenologists, and more) who deal with
computation/systematics/inference to
search for weak signals in noisy data.
June 7
- July 5
Primordial Physics
Organizers:
Daniel Baumann, Cambridge
University
Eiichiro Komatsu,
Max-Planck-Institut fur Astrophysik
Liam McAllister,
Cornell University
Matthew Reece*, Harvard
University
Observations of the
cosmic microwave background and of the
distribution of large-scale structure have
given compelling evidence for the idea of
inflation. Detecting primordial
gravitational waves would provide further
decisive support for inflation, while
either a detection or a stringent upper
bound would open an observational window
on quantum gravity. These experimental
advances have revealed how much still
remains to be understood about the physics
of the very early universe: the clarity
and simplicity of the maps produced by the
Planck satellite stand in stark contrast
to the diverse and changeable literature
on inflationary models, whose connections
to the rest of particle physics, and
ultimately to quantum gravity, are poorly
characterized. Extracting information on
the physics of inflation from the coming
generation of experiments will require
close collaboration among theoretical
astrophysicists and cosmologists, particle
theorists, and string theorists. The goal
of this workshop is to bring these
communities together to address
fundamental problems in early universe
cosmology.
June
14 - July 5
Physics and
Mathematics of Viral Assembly
Organizers:
Robijn Bruinsma*,
University of California, Los Angeles
William Gelbart, University
of California, Los Angeles
William Klug, University
of California, Los Angeles
Vinothan Manoharan, Harvard
University
Roya Zandi, University of
California, Riverside
Viruses are the simplest
biological organisms. Many consist of
nothing more than a one-protein-thick
shell, called the capsid, which surrounds
and protects the genome that can be RNA or
DNA. New microscopy and
single-molecule-manipulation techniques
have led over the past decade to physical
characterization of viruses, now the
subject of the emerging field of "physical
virology". The time is ripe for a critical
dialogue between physicists and biologists
to explore the fundamental aspects of
finite‐system self‐assembly and maturation
(structural phase transformation)
phenomena that are crucial to the life
cycles and infectivity of a wide variety
of RNA and DNA viruses. The focus of the
workshop will be on recent experiments,
both in vitro and in vivo, and on most
recent developments in the physics and
mathematics of viral structure and
assembly which have begun to delineate the
role played by protein-nucleic acid
interactions and have stimulated new
theoretical approaches to understanding
how viruses "work".
June
21- July 12
The Physics of
Accretion and Feedback in the
Circum-Galactic Medium
Organizers:
Romeel Dave, University
of the Western Cape
Crystal Martin, University
of California, Santa Barbara
Guinevere Kauffmann*, Max
Planck Institute for Astrophysics
Norman Murray, Canadian
Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics
Charles Steidel, Caltech
Jason Tumlinson,Space
Telescope Science Institute
In the modern paradigm of
galaxy evolution, the key physical
processes that modulate the growth of
galaxies are accretion and feedback: the
former delivers new gas withwhich to form
stars and grow supermassive black holes,
while the latter suppresses and/or expels
accreted material. This workshop is aimed
at exploring galactic accretion and
feedback processes from the present-day
back to the peak epoch of galaxy growth at
redshifts 2-3. We will gather top
theorists with expertise spanning topics
ranging from models of stellar evolution
and interstellar medium, to hydrodynamical
simulations and semi-analytic models of
galaxy formation, to the energetic
processes occurring in the vicinity of
black holes. We will discuss our models in
the context of emerging observations that
are providing new physical constraints and
insights. We aim to chart a
forward-looking course for solving the
most crucial problems in this field by
using state-of-the-art models to help
interpret the data from current and future
facilities.
July
5 - July 26
From Scattering
Amplitudes to the Conformal Bootstrap
Organizers:
Henriette Elvang*,
University of Michigan
David Poland, Yale
University
Leonardo Rastelli, Yang
Institute for Theoretical Physics
Jaroslav Trnka, Caltech
The workshop will be
devoted to new methods in quantum field
theory, with a special emphasis on the
exciting recent developments on the
structure of perturbative scattering
amplitudes and on the conformal bootstrap.
The two subjects have a conceptual kinship
and it will be fruitful to bring together
experts of both camps. The workshop will
also cover related areas of interest, such
as integrability, and the general realm of
exact results in supersymmetric fi eld
theory.
July
12 - August 9
Ultra-Cold Quantum
Matter with Atoms and Molecules
Organizers:
Gordon Baym, University
of Illinois Urbana Champaign
Randall Hulet, , Rice
University
Carlos Sa de Melo, Georgia
Institute of Technology
Ian Spielman, National
Institute of Standards and Technology
Henk Stoof, Utrecht
University
While research with
ultra-cold atoms and molecules has its
technical underpinnings in atomic and
molecular physics, itsintellectual
framework is deeply rooted in condensed
matter, high energy and astrophysics. The
manipulation of ultra-cold atoms and
molecules allowed for the creation of
several ultra-low-temperature quantum
matter systems with an unprecedented
degree of control over interaction
strength; atom/molecule density;
magnetization; artificial gauge and
spin-orbit fields; lattice strength,
structure, and dimensionality. This
ability to tune the parameters of a given
system allows not only for the
establishment of connections to known
Hamiltonians in various areas of quantum
matter physics, but also allows for
invention of new Hamiltonians not
encountered in any other area of physics.
This degree of control enables the
exploration of the phase space of
interacting bosons and fermions, and
permits the characterization of their
quantum phases via spectroscopic,
thermodynamic, transport, and
non-equilibrium measurements. In this
setting, we aim in this workshop to
nurture a partnership between
experimentand theory and to develop the
underlying organizational principles by
which we can understand all quantum
matter: equilibrium, steady-state and
non-equilibrium, alike.
July
26 - August 16
Neutrinos from
Space and on Earth
Organizers:
Scott Dodelson,
Fermilab
Graciela Gelmini*,
University of California, Los Angeles
Silvia Pascoli, Durham
University
Kate Scholberg, Duke
University
Neutrino physics has a
central position in the near-future plans
of High Energy Physics worldwide. This
Aspen Summer Workshop will bring together
experts to examine a number of currently
relevant questions in neutrino physics and
astrophysics, and the connections between
them and to related areas of physics and
cosmology such as dark matter. Topics
covered will include neutrino oscillation
experiments, neutrinoless double beta
decay searches, neutrino properties from
CMB and galaxy searches, sterile
neutrinos, supernova neutrinos,
terrestrial neutrinos, and very-high and
ultra-high-energy neutrinos from
astrophysical sources.
August
9 - September 13
New Directions to
Shed Light on Dark Matter
Organizers:
Laura Baudis*, Zurich -
ETH
Nathaniel Craig Rutgers
University
Maxim Pospelov, University
of Victoria
Stefano Profumo, University
of California, Santa Cruz
Maria Spriopulu,
Caltech
Gabrijela Zaharijas,
International Centre for Theoretical
Physics, Italy
This workshop aims to
bring experimentalists in the fields of
searches for dark matter with direct,
indirect and collider detection methods
together with theorists from particle
physics and astrophysics. Emphasis will be
given to all three experimental routes to
discovering dark matter, across the
intensity/precision frontier (direct
detection), the energy frontier
(colliders) and the cosmic frontier
(indirect detection). The goal of the
workshop is to assess the role of
forthcoming experimental results and to
chart a future course for the field.
August
16 - September 13
Beyond
Quasiparticles: New Paradigms for
Quantum Fluids
Organizers:
Silke Buhler-Paschen,
Vienna University of Technology
Yong-Baek Kim,
University of Toronto
Olexei Motrunich*, Caltech
Qimiao Si,
RiceUniversity
Much
of our understanding of phases of matter
is based on the concept known as
�quasiparticles�, which strives for a
picture of low-energy excitations as a
collection of weakly interacting
particle-like entities. However, over the
last three decades, many materials have
appeared that are �strongly
correlated� and dramatically defy the
�quasiparticle paradigm� �most
famously the so- called �strange
metal� phase in the copper based high
temperature superconductors, but also the
�non-Fermi liquid� state near the
border of magnetism in rare earth based
metals known as �heavy fermion
materials�. New semiconducting magnets
known as �gapless spin liquid� phases
in quantum antiferromagnets are further
examples that defy the concept of
quasiparticles. It is widely believed that
such quantum fluids with no quasiparticle
description are the key to understanding
many of these strongly correlated quantum
materials.
Recent years have seen tremendous progress
in a number of rather diverse directions
on both experimental and theoretical
fronts. We are planning to bring together
researchers in this area and attempt to
synthesize diverse strands to take the
next steps at this grand challenge in
Condensed Matter Physics. Both
experimental and theoretical developments
will be discussed. Experimental systems
will include non-Fermi liquid systems such
as the cuprates and heavy electron metals
near quantum criticality, non-Fermi liquid
realizations in quantum dots, and various
candidate quantum spin liquid materials.
Theoretical progress using various
effective field theories of such systems,
dynamical mean field theories, and
emerging connections to other areas of
physics such as quantum information and
gauge-gravity dualities will be discussed.
August
16 - September 13
F-Theory at the
Interface of Particle Physics and
Mathematics
Organizers:
Mirjam Cvetic,
University of Pennsylvania
David R. Morrison,
University of California Santa Barbara
Sakura Schafer-Nameki*,
King's College
Timo Weigand,
Heidelberg
This workshop brings together
mathematicians, string theorists, formal
field theorists and phenomenologists, with
the goal to further our understanding of
the conceptual foundations and
phenomenological implications of F-theory
model building. This includes exploring
properties of related classes of string
compactifications, novel aspects of string
duality and questions of moduli
stabilization and supersymmetry breaking
in string theory. The proposed activities
will concentrate on further extending the
very fruitful interplay between string
theory/F-theory and mathematics, most
notably algebraic geometry and topology,
as well as strengthening the connections
and relevance of this field to particle
physics, field theory and cosmology.
