Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics (TAUP 2009)

Abstract

The eleventh meeting of the TAUP Workshop series, TAUP 2009, was held in Rome on 1–5 July 2009, organized by the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS).The workshop venue was originally L'Aquila. The earthquake of 6 April changed our plans. The earthquake killed about 300 people, wounded about 15,000, made homeless about 60,000 and destroyed a large part of the built environment, as well as essential infrastructures. The LNGS buildings were not seriously affected by the event, and the underground site not at all. But after the event most of the LNGS staff were homeless and the local hotels were damaged. So we were forced to move the Workshop to Rome, and found a good venue in the Angelicum, the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, in the very center of Rome. This University, founded in 1580, has its historical roots in the medieval House of Studies of the Dominican Order in Rome, and we think that all the TAUP participants enjoyed the spiritual atmosphere which emanated from the ancient walls of the building and the cloister.All the various aspects of our interdisciplinary field of research at the intersection of Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology, named Astroparticle Physics, have been covered: Dark Components of the Universe, Gravitational Waves, Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics, High Energy Astrophysics, Cosmic Rays and Gamma-Rays Astronomy. Exciting scientific results were presented and the main issues of the field debated in the plenary and parallel sessions. The program also included a Session on Outreach and Education, with contributions from major Laboratories, Experimental Collaborations and International Organizations.Unhappily, the sad news from Zaragoza of the passing of our dear colleague and friend Julio Morales, to whom these Proceedings are dedicated, marked the last day of the Workshop.On behalf of the Organizing Committee of TAUP 2009, we thank all the Speakers and Conveners, who made possible a detailed vision of the field, and the members of the International Advisory Committee and of the TAUP Steering Committee for assistance and advice on the scientific program. The support received by IUPAP and by the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) is gratefully acknowledged. Eugenio Coccia Luciano Pandola Nicolao Fornengo Roberto AloisioA personal special thank you to my fellow organizers, to the Secretariat and to the LNGS staff. They worked successfully for TAUP 2009 in a difficult moment for our Laboratory, and even more, for several of them, in a difficult moment of their lives. Eugenio Coccia Chairman of the TAUP 2009 Organizing CommitteeTAUP 2009 has been conducted in accordance with IUPAP principles as stated in the ICSU-Document ‘Universality of Science’ (sixth edition, 1989) regarding the free circulation of scientists for international purposes. In particular, no bona fide scientist have been excluded from participation on the grounds of national origin, nationality, or political considerations unrelated to science.