National Academies Committee to Formulate Vision for Particle Physics

New study will complement decades of planning by members of the American Physical Society

A committee of distinguished scientists will meet this week to begin laying out a vision for the future of high-energy physics. Appointed by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, the Committee on Elementary Particle Physics: Progress and Promise includes several former presidents of the American Physical Society (APS).

The committee’s first public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, July 26 and 27, at the Grand Hyatt Seattle and will be livestreamed. United States government officials and representatives from the world’s major particle accelerator centers will discuss the future of particle physics, including research questions, directions, tools and techniques.

The Seattle meeting coincides with the Snowmass Community Summer Study Workshop, the latest in a series of strategic planning exercises, held over the course of four decades and carried out under the auspices of the APS Division of Particles and Fields (DPF).

“The facilities required for progress in high-energy physics are enormously complex and expensive, and so it’s essential that the research community come together to identify the best way to allocate its limited resources,” said DPF Chair Joel Butler of Fermilab, who will present at the committee meeting on Wednesday. “We’ve been doing that since the first workshop in Snowmass, Colorado in 1982. It’s gratifying to see this community-driven effort inform the priorities of the particle physics enterprise in the United States and abroad.”

In addition to looking forward, the Department of Energy- and National Science Foundation-sponsored study will address progress made since the National Academies’ 2006 report Revealing the Hidden Nature of Space and Time.

“We aim to envision an inspiring roadmap for the evolution of the field globally by synthesizing the ingenuity, ambition, courage, and wisdom of the community,” said Maria Spiropulu, the Shang-Yi Ch’en Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology, who serves as co-chair of the committee with 2013 APS President Michael S. Turner, senior strategic advisor at the Kavli Foundation and Rauner Distinguished Service Professor emeritus at the University of Chicago.

“It seems that the clues are in front of us to answer really big fundamental questions. As I see it, the committee has the enviable task of articulating a grand vision for the field and a path to realizing that vision,” said Turner.

Other committee members include APS Vice President Young-Kee Kim and former APS Presidents Philip H. Bucksbaum (2020), David J. Gross (2019) and Barry C. Barish (2011).

“By convening the community through the Snowmass process, APS is helping to shape the future of particle physics,” said Jonathan Bagger, APS CEO and previous Director of TRIUMF, Canada’s particle accelerator center. “The NASEM committee will build on this strong foundation and identify the most promising paths to advance our understanding of the universe.”

Event Details

• What: Committee on Elementary Particle Physics: Progress and Promise - Meeting No. 1
• When: Tuesday, July 26, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. PDT and Wednesday, July 27, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. PDT
• Where: Grand Hyatt Seattle, 721 Pine Street, Seattle, WA, 98101 and Online

Visit the National Academies website for more information and registration. Media inquiries may be directed to the Office of News and Public Information 202-334-2138 or via email.