Abstract
Physics is validated through careful experimental work and its progress is punctuated by great experiments: Newton decomposing light with prisms, Thomson’s discovery of the electron, Michelson’s experiment on the speed of light through ether etc. Direct experimentation, whether ground-based or space-based, remains the method of choice. Yet, high-energy physics, the study of the fundamental constituents of matter and their interactions, has moved to the point where it can address conditions that cannot be tested by direct experimentation. Can the distant Universe then be used as a laboratory? How have astronomical observations tested and expanded our knowledge of high-energy physics? Is this affecting the way astrophysics is done? These are the questions addressed in this contribution.
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I acknowledge support from the European Commission under contract ERC-StG-200911.
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Dubus, G. (2011). The Universe as a Laboratory for High-Energy Physics. In: Lasota, JP. (eds) Astronomy at the Frontiers of Science. Integrated Science & Technology Program, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1658-2_1
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