Particle Physics 2017

Dear Colleagues and Friends of DESY,
In 2017, DESY was vibrant with activities, in particle and
astroparticle physics as well as in photon science and in
accelerator development, and our campuses in Hamburg and
Zeuthen saw many construction activities – a manifestation of
our efforts to secure the research centre’s future.
Two main processes kept us busy: the strategy process
DESY-2030 and the preparation for the programme-oriented
funding (POF) evaluation of the Helmholtz Association in
February 2018. The POF evaluation will eventually lead to
funding recommendations for the upcoming POF IV period,
which will according to current planning start in 2020 and last
for seven years. The DESY-2030 strategy process also has
long-term consequences for our work. After intense discussions
in dedicated competence teams and in the DESY
strategy group, the DESY Board of Directors defined a clear
roadmap for the next decade and beyond.
In particle physics, the Large Hardon Collider (LHC) at CERN
near Geneva, Switzerland, will remain our central activity for
many years to come. DESY will focus on the upgrades of the
ATLAS and CMS experiments and on their successful
science exploitation. With strong groups in both experiments,
and with the construction of the new tracker end-caps for
ATLAS and CMS starting in mid-2018 in the Detector
Assembly Facility (DAF) at DESY, we are very well prepared
to achieve these goals.
A second cornerstone of DESY’s particle physics strategy is
the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB collider at KEK in
Japan, which will start data taking in 2018 (Fig. 1). The PXD
vertex detector contributed by German groups will be added
in 2019. Data taking will last until around 2027, and hopes for
exciting results are high.
A set of on-site experiments will complement DESY’s particle
physics portfolio: The ALPS II experiment, which aims to
probe for hypothetical very weakly interacting ultralight
particles (WISPs), will start data taking in 2020, and we are
working hard on realising potential successor experiments,
such as MADMAX or IAXO. In addition, we will further
strengthen our efforts in detector and accelerator R& D.
Another key element in the DESY particle physics strategy is
the theory group. We will strive to foster its broad spectrum
of research topics and its position as a world-leading centre
for theoretical physics.
Concerning the farther future, DESY will prepare for a leading
participation in future global collider projects, and we will
strive to strengthen our position as a hub for the German
particle physics community, facilitating German contributions
to international large-scale projects.
In astroparticle physics, one focus of DESY is on the
preparation of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the
next-generation gamma-ray observatory. We foresee a strong
role of DESY in the construction and operation of the
observatory, and CTA will enable us to drive prominent
science topics. One 2017 highlight was the first observation
of air showers with the mid-sized telescope prototype of CTA
(Fig. 2). In neutrino astronomy, DESY will contribute to the
exploitation of the IceCube experiment at the South Pole, and
we will drive the upgrade programme towards IceCube-Gen2.
A particular emphasis is on the multimessenger approach to
astronomy. DESY will extend its key role in real-time alert
systems and in optical and gamma-ray follow-ups, and we
will further develop the relevant synergies. The multimessenger
approach already proved to be very fruitful: In
2017, for the first time, sources have been observed using
several messengers at the same time.
Central to all our ambitions is the talent of our staff. In 2017,
DESY has – again – been very successful in attracting a number
of highly qualified scientists at different career levels. The
Helmholtz Young Investigator Groups of Anna Franckowiak
(neutrino astronomy, IceCube) and Elisa Pueschel (CTA)
started working in 2017, and three new Young Investigator
Groups were granted: The groups of Torben Ferber (Belle II),
Abideh Jafari (CMS) and Priscilla Pani (ATLAS) will take up
their work at DESY in early 2018. Furthermore, David Berge
could be recruited to a leading scientist position in gammaray
astronomy with the help of the Helmholtz recruitment
initiative.
What will the future bring? With our efforts in the POF and
DESY-2030 processes, we are clearly well prepared to tackle
future challenges. At the same time, we are also putting our
efforts into the ongoing German, European and international
strategy considerations.
In particle physics, DESY has been actively contributing to
the strategy process of the German Committee for Elemen-
Joachim Mnich
Director in charge of Particle Physics
and Astroparticle Physics
tary Particle Physics (KET), which will conclude with a
strategy workshop in May 2018. Here, a statement on the
German views will be formulated as input to the currently
beginning European strategy process – in which DESY will
play a very active role.
More concretely, in 2018, DESY will face several decisive
events: the start of data taking with Belle II, the end of LHC
Run 2 and the start of the construction of the ATLAS and
CMS tracker end-caps in the DAF. A decision on the
realisation of the International Linear Collider (ILC) in Japan is
also expected. The 250 GeV stage of the ILC was proposed
in 2017, and it presents a scientifically sound case, as is
documented not least in the positive statement of the
International Committee for Future Accelerators (ICFA).
In astroparticle physics, DESY will begin the construction of
the first preproduction telescopes for CTA and of the CTA
Science Data Management Centre (SDMC). We will continue
our multimessenger activities and expand the cross alerting
of gamma-ray, neutrino and gravitational-wave events and
X-ray and optical outbursts.
We have a successful year 2017 behind us, and we have
ambitious plans for the future. I congratulate all of the DESY
staff members on their successes, and I thank them very
much for their continued effort for the research centre!