A Round Table on the Future of Particle Astrophysics

Abstract

The topic of this workshop, has been the field at the intersection of Particle Physics, Cosmology and High Energy Astrophysics. This field has had a remarkable development in the last decade, and the perspectives for the future appear to be of great interest. This has been witnessed by the interest and richness of this meeting. The workshop was concluded with a round-table with the aim of discussing the present status of the field, the interconnections among the different sub-fields, the problems that remain open, and the perspectives for the future, The discussion at the round table was lively with many stimulating contributions (more than 10 short presentations plus comments and contributions from the floor), covering a broad spectrum of topics. Interestingly the discussion did not remain at a purely “technical” level, but also touched topics that are of interest for an audience that is much wider than one composed only of “professional scientists”, such as the relation between fundamental science and general culture, the necessity of educating the public about the significance of the research we are performing, the need (and difficulty) for countries with less wealth and more acute social problems to participate in the development of fundamental science.