Particle Physics at the Crossroads

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Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Past, Present and Future of Particle Physics

With the discovery of the Higgs boson, the last missing piece of the Standard Model of particle physics has been found. The “hunt” for the Standard Model particles has thus come to an end and new aims and challenges will take centre stage in the practice of particle physics: precision measurements of the Standard Model’s parameters, the search for particles beyond the Standard Model, motivated in part by cosmological evidence, and the exploration of yet uncharted experimental and theoretical territory. To meet these challenges ever more sophisticated and larger experimental facilities will be required as well as an ever more critical assessment of the virtues and shortcomings of various theoretical proposals. A better understanding of this new phase of particle physics calls for a concerted effort of physics and the social sciences reflecting on it. The summer school will bring together physicists, philosophers, historians and sociologists of science to address questions such as:

• In which direction do particle physicists expect their field to evolve and what steps are taken to realize this?
• How are their ideas and guiding principles embedded in the current concepts of philosophy of science?
• What are the potentials and limitations of the complementing methods of particle physics and cosmology?
• How did and will the status of experimental and theoretical knowledge change?
• How and why did particle physics begin to require multi–billion Euro facilities and will it continue to do so?

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Press

A report on the Summer School, as well as an article by weltmaschine.de in German can be found here:

www.presse.uni-wuppertal.de/de/medieninformationen/2018/07/26/27698-summer-school-zur-vergangenheit-gegenwart-und-zukunft-der-teilchenphysik/

www.weltmaschine.de/neuigkeiten/neuigkeiten_archiv/2018/dschungelcamp_fuer_grundlagenforschung/

Confirmed Speakers

Physics:

Philosophy:

History:

Sociology:

Practical Information and Location Details

The school will feature a number of morning and evening lectures by distinguished members from each of the respective fields (see above). Additionally, there will be working goups in the afternoon that cover selected topics from particle physics. A selection of participants will also get a chance to present their own work. 

The cost of participation will be € 450 and include full board and lodging. The school will be held

• from 23 to 30 July 2018 at the
• Tagungszentrum Auf dem Heiligen Berg, Missionsstraße 9, 42285 Wuppertal, Germany.

The "Tagungszentrum" is located on top of a hill in a central area of Wuppertal, near a large park (the "Hardt") and Wuppertal's botanical garden. It is sufficiently secluded to ensure a calm and quiet atmosphere but central enough to get to and fro fast.

Check in will be possible from 1 pm on Monday, 23 July. A first meet and greet with coffee will be held at 3pm that day. The Tagungszentrum can be reached directly by bus no. 643 from Wuppertal main station and is proximate to the exit “Wuppertal-Elberfeld” on expressway 46. The closest airports are Düsseldorf (approx. 50 km / 30 miles or 1 hour and 10 minutes’ train ride) and Cologne/Bonn (approx. 70 km / 40 miles or 1.5 hours’ train ride).

Schedule

Please note that there may be further changes to the program. Detailed information on student presentations and working groups will be released at a later time.

Organization of the working groups

A1 - The working group sessions will be based in room 1.01 and are led by Markus Ehberger and Daniel Mitchell.

A2 - The working group sessions will be based in room 1.02 and are led by Joshua Rosaler and Miguel Ángel Carretero Sahuquillo

A3 - The working group sessions will be based in room 1.05a and are led by Niels Martens, Erhard Scholz and Michael Krämer

B1- The working group sessions will be based in the Audimax and are led by Florian Boge, Christian Zeitnitz, Gregor Schiemann, Michael Krämer, Paul Grünke and Rafaela Hillerbrand

B2 - The working group sessions will be based in the Audimax and are led by Cristin Chall and Martin King

B3 - The working group sessions will be based in the 1.05b and are led by Helene Sorgner and Sophie Ritson

Earlier Editions

The summer school is the third in a row of successful schools on the philosophy of particle physics, broadly construed. Its predecessors, the 1st and 2nd International Spring School on Particle Physics and Philosophy, were hosted in Wuppertal during spring 2011 and 2014 respectively, and each supported by the IZWT and the BU Wuppertal.

For more information, pleases see the archive.

Organization & Contact

For further information you can contact the organizers, Adrian Wüthrich (TU Berlin) and Florian Boge (BU Wuppertal), at SummerSchool.ELHC[at]uni-wuppertal.de