Phase I CPU Report to be Discussed at April Meeting

The first phase of a new National Research Council report of the Committee on the Physics of the Universe (CPU) will be the topic of discussion during a special Sunday evening session at the APS April Meeting in Washington, DC. The session is intended to begin the process of collecting input from the scientific community on some of the issues outlined in the draft report, and members of the CPU will be present to respond to questions and hear comments on the content of the report. There will also be time for open discussion of future projects to realize the science opportunities.

Chaired by Michael Turner of Fermilab and the University of Chicago, the CPU was established early last year. The Phase I report to be presented at the April Meeting summarizes the science and discusses the most timely opportunities in a rapidly developing and very active area of research, according to Turner.

The second phase of the committee's task is to evaluate and prioritize projects that address science at the intersection of physics and astronomy. The committee has also been asked to address the issue of inter-agency cooperation and possible barriers to it, since many of the projects in this interdisciplinary area will likely be funded by more than one agency.