Center for Particle Astrophysics

加州大学伯克利分校与加州大学圣巴巴拉分校、加州大学欧文分校、旧金山州立大学、斯坦福大学和劳伦斯·伯克利实验室合作提出的这项建议要求提供资金，以建立粒子天体物理科学和技术中心。该中心的主任将是加州大学伯克利分校的Bernard Sadoulet教授。天文证据表明，宇宙的90%或更多是由暗物质组成的。阐明这一物质的性质在天体物理学中具有最高的优先地位，并形成了该中心研究的智力重点。最耐人寻味的可能性是，这一物质可能从宇宙开始就以粒子遗迹的形式存在。这些粒子的浓度可能以星系晕中暗物质的形式包围着我们，它们的特征可能存在于弥漫的宇宙背景辐射中，而扩散的宇宙背景辐射本身就起源于早期的宇宙。暗物质和漫射背景辐射为研究宇宙起源和物质的基本性质提供了独特的实验室。研究计划的核心是开发新一代低温探测器，这种探测器可以用来更准确地测量漫射背景辐射，并直接验证暗物质的粒子起源假说。暗物质起源的另一个线索可能在于宇宙大尺度结构的细节。该中心的研究将包括为这项研究开发先进的光学方法，包括为新的凯克望远镜开发自适应光学系统。如果成功，这个高分辨率系统对所有天文学的重要性怎么强调都不为过，而对光学行业的影响将是相当直接的。

This proposal from the University of California, Berkeley, in cooperation with the University of California, Santa Barbara; the University of California, Irvine; San Francisco State University; Stanford University; and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) requests funds to establish a Science and Technology Center in Particle Astrophysics. The Director of the Center will be Professor Bernard Sadoulet of the University of California, Berkeley. Astronomical evidence indicates that 90% or more of the universe is made of dark matter. Elucidating the nature of this matter has the highest priority in astrophysics and forms the intellectual focus of the research in the Center. The most intriguing possibility is that this matter may be in the form of particle relics from the beginning of the universe. Concentrations of these particles could surround us today in the form of dark matter in galaxy halos, and their signature may exist in the diffuse cosmic background radiation which itself originates from the early universe. Dark matter and the diffuse background radiation provide unique laboratories for studying both the origin of the universe and the fundamental nature of matter. Central to the research program is the development of a new generation of cryogenic detectors which can be used to measure more accurately the diffuse background radiation and to verify directly the particle origin hypothesis of dark matter. Another clue to the origin of dark matter may lie in the details of the large scale structure of the universe. Research at the Center will include the development of advanced optical methods for this study including the development of an adaptive optics system for the new Keck Telescope. If successful, the importance of this high-resolution system for all of astronomy cannot be overemphasized, while the impact on the optical industry will be quite direct.