INPAC

Institute for Nuclear and Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology

News and Forthcoming Events:

• General  2007 meeting
  organized by UC Davis and UC Berkeley at the DoubleTree hotel at the Berkeley Marina, Friday May 4, 2007 (5:30 p.m.)— Sunday May 6, 2007 (12:30 p.m.).

Recent Events:

• Complementarity between Dark Matter Searches and Collider Experiments
  Workshop at UC Irvine, CA, June 10-11, 2006

Organization:

The branches of INPAC can be found at UC campuses where nuclear and particle physics is pursued and at three national laboratories:

• UC Berkeley (Berkeley Cosmology Group)
• UC Davis
• UC Irvine
• UC Los Angeles
• UC Riverside
• UC San Diego
• UC Santa Barbara
• UC Santa Cruz
• Lawrence Berkeley NL (Institute for Nuclear and Particle Astrophysics)
• Lawrence Livermore NL
• Los Alamos NL

INPAC Objectives:

Nuclear and Particle Astrophysics focuses on three areas: the role of nuclear and particle physics in cosmology (e.g., inflation, dark matter, baryogenesis), neutrino astrophysics (neutrino masses, solar neutrinos, supernova, ultra high energy neutrinos) and high energy phenomena (acceleration mechanism, very high energy gamma rays, origin of cosmic rays). This is both an exciting multidisciplinary adventure and a very rapidly growing field. Eight of the UC campuses and the three national laboratories are already strongly involved. Through the constitution of this multicampus research unit, we hope to enhance our influence on the national and international scene and attract additional funding.

Our objectives as spelled out by our charter are:

• To promote basic research in experimental cosmology and astrophysics, and nuclear and particle physics, particularly in their areas of intersection;
• To facilitate collaborative efforts in these fields among personnel of the University of California campuses and laboratories;
• To assist researchers of the University of California in effectively participating in collaborative programs at major national or international research facilities;
• To expand the availability of the resources, technical expertise and infrastructure of the two Defense Program Laboratories to the University of California and to expedite the full incorporation of these laboratories into national programs of basic research;
• To improve the competitiveness of research initiatives from the University of California in seeking funding from federal agencies;
• To attract major new research facilities to the University of California system and maintain the support of productive existing facilities;
• To contribute to graduate education utilizing available resources and facilities in cooperation with other units in the University of California system;
• To broaden public awareness of the importance of basic research in this area, its discoveries and accomplishments, and giving particular attention to potential future teachers;
• To coordinate instrumentation development and improve linkages among our various institutions and between industry and ourselves to facilitate knowledge exchange, in particular in sensor technologies.