2016 AAAS Annual Meeting (February 11-15, 2016)

February 10 - 15, 2016

Astroparticle Physics: Unraveling Mysteries of the Universe

From the unimaginable heat of the Big Bang, to black holes and supernovae, the most violent events in the universe are also the most exciting. Streaming across space, the messengers from these cataclysmic events may hold the keys to unlocking the deepest secrets of nature. In the next few years, experimental advances will drive a revolution in our understanding of the cosmos. Gravitational waves will be detected, opening an entirely new window on the universe. The next generation of dark matter search devices is reaching the sensitivity at which a signal may be seen. Very-high-energy gamma ray astronomy will be transformed by the Cherenkov Telescope Array, a multinational project to build a new type of ground-based instrument. These advances will be achieved only through collaboration among international partners, and are at the root of the relatively new discipline of astroparticle physics. The session discusses how international collaboration has yielded many topics for consideration by astroparticle physicists: investigating astrophysical neutrinos; understanding the nature of mysterious dark matter; detecting gravitational waves; and studying very-high-energy gamma rays. The latest developments and international partnerships on a range of facilities and instrumentation, including the LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter detector, are explored.