Astrophysics from the South Pole: Status and Future Prospects

Final Report

The final report from the workshop is available here.

Introduction

This meeting will be held on Monday and Tuesday April 4/5 at the AGU building in central Washington DC (close to Dupont Circle). The goals of this meeting are to:

Briefly review the history of astrophysical research from the South Pole with emphasis on why the kinds of observations currently being pursued came to dominate, and the suitability of the site for other observations.
To provide context, briefly summarize other astrophysical research under way or proposed at other sites in Antarctica.
Summarize the current on-going programs at South Pole (Icecube, SPT, CMB polarization, and others) and their results to date and expectations.
Discuss plans and visions for future generations of experiments at South Pole and at remote sites supported from South Pole.

After hearing presentations from invited and contributed speakers on the above topics there will be a structured discussion session amongst the workshop participants on the future of astrophysics at the South Pole. During and after the workshop the organizing committee will formulate a report summarizing the presentations and placing special emphasis on the infrastructural implications of the visions for the future.

This meeting is open to all interested parties and there will be no registration fee. Subject to approval some funding will be available to allow students and post-docs to attend.

Accommodation

The conference hotel is The Fairfax at Embassy Row. A few rooms remain although these are now $325 per night. To book:

During office hours call 301-570-0800 or the toll free number 800-322-7032.
Once the recorded message starts, press 2 for conventions and housing.
An agent will take your reservation (i.e. name, check in and out dates, and credit card). Please mention "South Pole Physics Workshop".
You will actually settle your account with the hotel at checkout (credit card taken on phone is to hold reservation).

Registration

This meeting is open to all interested parties and there will be no registration fee. If you plan to attend the most important thing to do is to book your hotel room as described above. We also request that you send an email to pryke@physics.spa.umn.edu to let us know. There will be limited time available for contributed presentations on future visions for experiments at South Pole or at remote sites supported from South Pole - if you would like to speak please include the title and abstract of your proposed talk.

Scientific Organizing Committee

The scientific organizing committee is Greg Sullivan (Maryland), John Carlstrom (Chicago), Chao-Lin Kuo (Stanford), John Kovac (Harvard), Albrecht Karle (Wisconsin), Clem Pryke (Minnesota) and Tony Travouillon (Caltech).

Schedule

Monday:

8:30 - Registration (but no fee), informal conversation

9:00-9:10 - Opening remarks - Clem Pryke (Minnesota), pdf

9:10-9:40 - IceCube construction and performance results - Albrect Karle (Wisconsin) pdf

9:40-10:10 - IceCube science (neutrinos) - Elisa Resconi (TU Munich) pdf

10:10-10:40 - Coffee and discussion

10:40:11:10 - Remarks about review process - Scott Borg (NSF)

11:10-11:40 - Cosmic rays physics with IceCube - Tom Gaisser (Bartol) ppt

11:40-12:10 - Neutrino physics and astrophysics with Deep Core - Doug Cowen (Penn State) pdf

12:10-12:40 - Dark Matter in Ice (dm-ice) - Reina Maruyana (Wisconsin) pdf

12:40-1:30 - Lunch

1:30-1:50 - Science goals of the quest for detecting highest energy cosmogenic neutrinos - Pisin Chen (Taiwan) ppt

1:50-2:20 - Askaryan radio array - detector design and first season results - Kara Hoffman (Maryland) ppt

2:20-2:40 - Neutron Monitor - Paul Evenson (Delaware) ppt

2:40-3:10 - CARA and the early years of photon astronomy - John Carlstrom (Chicago) pdf

3:50-4:00 - Tea and discussion

4:00-4:40 - Review of site testing around the continent and astronomical work at other sites in Antarctica - Michael Burton (UNSW Australia) pdf

4:40-5:10 - HEAT - Terahertz observations from South Pole and Ridge-A - Craig Kulesa (Arizona) pdf

5:10-5:40 - Gattini-South Pole - Anna Moore (Caltech) ppt

Dinner at local restaurants

Tuesday Apr 5:

8:40:9:00 - The potential for Adaptive optics at the South Pole - Tony Travouillon (Caltech) file

9:00-9:30 - History of CMB observations at South Pole - John Kovac (Harvard) file

9:30-10:00 - The South Pole Telescope - Tom Crawford (Chicago) file

10:00-10:30 - SPT Polarimeter - SPTpol - John Ruhl (Case Western) file

10:30-11:00 - Coffee and discussion

11:00-11:30 - CMB Polarimetry with BICEP1 - John Kovac (Harvard) file

11:30-11:50 - BICEP2 - Jamie Bock (Caltech/JPL) file

11:50-12:00 - Keck-Array - Clem Pryke (Minnesota) file

12:00-12:30 - Polar1 and The Polar Array - Chao-Lin Kuo (Stanford) file

12:30-1:30 - Lunch

1:30-1:40 - AAGS Program Status - Vladimir Papitashvili (NSF)

1:40-3:00 - Discussion:

* What are the future directions of astrophysics at the South Pole?

* What kinds of organization make sense to support astrophysics at South Pole?

* What are the infrastructural implications of future astrophysics at the South Pole?

3:00-3:30 - Tea and discussion

3:30-5:00 - Further discussion and report writing (please stay to help!)

Participants

Brad Benson (Chicago)
Colin Bischoff (Harvard)
Erik Blaufuss (Maryland)
Jamie Bock (JPL)
Michael Burton (UNSW)
John Carlstrom (Chicago)
Clarence Chang (Chicago)
Pisin Chen (SLAC)
Douglas Cowen (PSU)
Tom Crawford (Chicago)
Tyce DeYoung (PSU)
Paul Evenson (U Delaware)
Tom Gaisser (Bartol)
Darren Grant (Alberta)
Nils Halverson (Bolder)
Kara Hoffman (Maryland)
Bill Jones (Princeton)
Karle Albrecht (Madison)
John Kovac (Harvard)
Craig Kulesa (Arizona)
Chao-Lin Kuo (Stanford)
Reina Maruyama (Madison)
Anna Moore (Caltech)
Vladimir Papitashvili (NSF)
Clem Pryke (Minnesota)
Elisa Resconi (TU Munich)
John Ruhl (Case Western)
Nigel Sharp (NSF)
Greg Sullivan (Maryland)
Keith Thompson (Stanford)
Tony Travouillon (Caltech)
Abigail Vieregg (Harvard)
Ki Won Yoon (Stanford)
Nigel Sharp (NSF)
Jeffrey Pier (NSF)
James Ulvestad (NSF)
Scott Borg (NSF)
Sandra Singer (NSF)
Jessie Crain (NSF)
Jerry Marty (NSF)

Acknowledgment

This workshop was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1129379. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

(Updated 6/10/12)