With to-do list checked off, U.S. physicists ask, ‘What’s next?’ | Science | AAAS

With to-do list checked off, U.S. physicists ask, ‘What’s next?’ | Science | AAAS

US particle physics’ next big thing

US particle physicists will soon begin to gather ideas for their next challenge, facing the unusual situation of having ticked pretty much everything off their to-do list. Generous funding from the US Department of Energy (DOE) helped the community to kick off almost every undertaking that they defined in their last multi-year plan, including several neutrino projects, dark-matter detectors and a network of telescopes to study the cosmic microwave background. Top of the list: maintain the enviable harmony that helped them to achieve the successes of the seven years since the last big planning process. “Being unified is the new norm for us,” jokes Jim Siegrist, the DOE’s associate director for high-energy physics.

Science | 7 min read