APS Division of Particles and Fields

APS Division of Particles and Fields

The APS Division of Particles and Fields is a unit of the American Physical Society representing researchers in particle physics, high-energy physics, and related experimental and theoretical studies. It serves as a nexus among laboratories such as Fermilab, CERN, SLAC, and KEK while liaising with institutions including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, DESY, and TRIUMF. The division coordinates topics spanning the Standard Model, quantum field theory, neutrino physics, dark matter, and Higgs boson research, engaging communities around projects like the Large Hadron Collider, Tevatron, Belle II, and DUNE.

History

The division was established within the American Physical Society in the late 1960s amid growth in accelerator projects such as the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center program, the CERN ISR, and the expansion of cosmic ray investigations. Early activities connected researchers from Columbia University, University of Chicago, University of California, Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Princeton University who worked on phenomenology related to the quark model, CP violation, and the emerging electroweak theory. Over decades the division interacted with major collaborations including UA1, UA2, ALEPH, OPAL, ATLAS, and CMS and responded to milestones like the discovery of the J/ψ meson, the tau lepton, the bottom quark, and the top quark. It also engaged debates tied to projects such as the Superconducting Super Collider cancellation and the initiation of the International Linear Collider studies.

Organization and Governance

The division operates under the bylaws of the American Physical Society with elected officers including a Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and members-at-large drawn from institutions like Yale University, Stanford University, University of Oxford, University of Tokyo, and Imperial College London. Governance includes standing committees on program planning, nominations, and awards that coordinate with advisory councils such as the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel and interfaces with funding agencies like the United States Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the European Research Council, and national labs including Argonne National Laboratory. The division's Executive Committee schedules topical sessions, endorses statements, and conducts elections using procedures mirrored by divisions like the APS Division of Nuclear Physics and the APS Forum on Physics and Society.

Membership and Awards

Membership comprises experimentalists and theorists from groups at University of California, Santa Barbara, Harvard University, Columbia University, University of Michigan, University of Chicago, Rutgers University, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Texas at Austin, and international centers such as CERN member states. The division administers awards honoring contributions akin to prizes such as the J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics and coordinates nominations for honors like the Nobel Prize in Physics recognition, the Dirac Medal, the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, and society awards including the APS Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research. It also recognizes young scientists through prizes similar to the APS Fellow designation and through topical awards highlighting work on neutrino oscillations, supersymmetry, and baryogenesis.

Conferences and Meetings

The division organizes flagship meetings such as the annual {\em Meeting of the Division of Particles and Fields} and collaborates on international conferences including the ICHEP, the Lepton-Photon Symposium, and workshops like the Rencontres de Moriond and Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics Conferences. Sessions often feature collaborations including ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, MINOS, NOvA, SNO+, Super-Kamiokande, and programs aligned with projects such as Hyper-Kamiokande and IceCube. Meetings draw participants from universities like Caltech, Cornell University, University of Cambridge, University of Toronto, and research centers including Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Max Planck Institute for Physics, and CEA Saclay.

Education, Outreach, and Public Policy

The division supports outreach through topical schools and programs modeled after lectures at institutions like CERN Summer Student Programme, the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, and the Perimeter Institute. It issues policy statements and white papers addressing funding priorities alongside bodies such as the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel and national funding agencies, engaging lawmakers in capitals like Washington, D.C., Brussels, Tokyo, and Ottawa. Educational initiatives partner with museums and organizations including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago), Science Museum (London), and public lecture series featuring notable figures such as Sheldon Glashow, Steven Weinberg, Yoichiro Nambu, Murray Gell-Mann, and Lisa Randall. The division also fosters diversity and inclusion efforts coordinated with groups like the American Physical Society Committee on the Status of Women in Physics and the National Society of Black Physicists.

Category:American Physical Society divisions