KICP Workshops, 2002
 
Predictions of Cold Dark Matter models on small scales: current status and future tests
July 31 - August 2, 2002 | Chicago, IL, USA

 
Radio Waves, Yerkes Summer Institute
August 3 - 9, 2002 | Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, WI
Picture: Radio Waves, Yerkes Summer Institute
Star Party @ Yerkes Institute, 2002
Website | Online Materials | Photo Gallery

Participants: 24 students; 9 instructors; 80 parents, siblings, and younger students

Radio Waves, the theme of 2002 YSI, builds upon the investigations that the Space Explorers had conducted during the spring when they constructed old fashioned crystal radio receivers. In addition to the spring laboratory experiences, the students were provided with background materials that helped to prepare them for the institute.

After introductions and an overview of the week, the institute began with a Star Party hosted by amateur astronomers. The rest of the week was spent cycling through interrelated daytime laboratories in small groups, nighttime observations, peer discussions, and deeper explorations into each laboratory.

The week culminated with student presentations that engaged their parents, siblings and younger students in the experiments that they conducted during the week, and a closing ceremony where certificates of accomplishment were presented.
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Related Links:
KICP Members: Matthew Hedman; Randall H. Landsberg
KICP Students: Ryan Hennessy; Daisuke Nagai

 
International Workshop on Particle Physics and the Early Universe
September 18 - 21, 2002 | Chicago, IL, USA
Picture: International Workshop on Particle Physics and the Early Universe
Organizer: Sean M. Carroll

The COSMO-02 conference will be the sixth in the COSMO series (following Ambleside, Lake District, England, 1997 Asilomar, California, 1998 Trieste, Italy, 1999 Cheju Island, Korea, 2000 Rovaniemi, Finland, 2001), devoted to the interplay of particle physics and cosmology of the early universe. These conferences have been successful in bringing together particle physicists, cosmologists and astrophysicists and providing the format to discuss new results in the exciting and fast-moving field of particle astrophysics and cosmology.

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KICP Members: Sean M. Carroll

 
Auger Event Reconstruction Workshop
October 2 - 5, 2002 | Chicago, IL, USA
Picture: Auger Event Reconstruction Workshop
Website

Organizer: James W. Cronin

The Engineering Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory has been operating in steady fashion since January, 2002. It consists of 30 surface detectors overlooked by two fluorescence telescopes. During this period samples of all the types of events that we expect to observe have been found and many independent groups have begun to reconstruct them. These include events at zenith angles up to 85 deg, fluorescence events, and hybrid events seen both by the surface array and the fluorescence detector. The purpose of the workshop is to have well defined sets of events reconstructed by at least two independent teams. In addition, we want to compare different calibration techniques for the the surface detectors and the fluorescence telescopes. Finally, we want to compare simulations required to pass from observed signals in the detectors to energies.
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Related Links:
KICP Members: James W. Cronin
Scientific projects: Pierre Auger Observatory (AUGER)

 
Scaling Up, Yerkes Winter Institute
December 27 - 29, 2002 | Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, WI
Picture: Scaling Up, Yerkes Winter Institute
Scaling Up
Website | Online Materials | Photo Gallery

The CfCP Yerkes Winter Institute is a three-day immersion program that allows middle- and high-school students to explore a scientific theme in depth under the guidance of Center researchers and educators. The theme for 2002 was Scaling Up, which encouraged the students to question how astrophysicists extrapolate simple measurements to understand the universe and its cosmic proportions.

In the three daytime laboratories, students investigated everyday objects (balloons, sugar cubes, and light bulbs) and extended their results to more substantial things (the TopHat telescope, the 90-foot dome for the great refractor, and the sun itself). The students were divided into three groups that rotated among the daytime experiments, made nighttime observations, and shared their investigations with parents, siblings, and younger students who joined us at the end of the institute.
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Related Links:
KICP Members: Juan I. Collar; Randall H. Landsberg; Jonathan L. Rosner
KICP Students: Andrew Puckett