ICCUB Conference. Vacuum 2017. The Vacuum of the Universe: from cosmology to particle phyisics
Abstract Our Universe is undergoing an accelerated expansion driven by an unknown form of gravitational vacuum energy; in addition, a mysterious form of (dark) matter is pervading our Universe. In the first “vacuum” workshop, we have gone deep into all theoretical possibilities that have the potentials to explain the current expansion of our Universe. However, as we have seen, most of these require fine tunings on some parameters and/or initial conditions. The natural question we want to explore is then whether anthropic considerations might (or might not) give any scientifically sound support to these tunings.
The second question we want to explore is what could dark matter be. So far, most of the experimental and theoretical efforts have been focused on low-energy supersymmetry. However, this possibility is by now severely constrained. Thus, in this second “vacuum” workshop, we will focus on the two other most natural candidates of dark matter: primordial black holes and (stringy and non) axions. The aim of these series of workshops is to bring together scientists from different scientific backgrounds to discuss and exchange ideas about fundamental questions related to what the Universe's vacuum is, what are its gravitational and particle physics properties and how do they interlock, if they do.
- The workshop is by invitation only and limited to a maximum of 40 participants, thus it is required to register early to keep the place.
- These talks are aimed to catalyze discussions, for this reason there will be plenty of time between them. In addition, there will be many free white board talks slots.
- These talks are for the participants of the workshop to be able to propose and/or discuss novel ideas not covered by the invited talks.
- These additional talks will not be announced beforehand as they are considered as integral parts of the scientific discussions.
Deadline for registration: 16 December 2016 23:59 For general matters, please contact the organising committee: Cristiano Germani, germani@icc.ub.edu