Astroparticle Physics CSN2
The objective of the research coordinated by the National Scientific Commission 2 (CSN2) is the study of radiation and particles in the cosmos, by means of experiments that find their natural setting in surface, underground, submarine, high-altitude or space laboratories.
At the Gran Sasso National Laboratories, the largest underground laboratory in the world, state-of-the-art detectors have been actively studying dark matter, neutrinos and rare phenomena that can only be detected under conditions of “cosmic silence” guaranteed by the protection offered by rocks. The environment protected from the penetration of cosmic rays also promotes astrophysical research, such as the study of solar neutrinos and supernova neutrinos.
Astroparticle physics has found new outlets in different environments: space, where satellite detectors have direct access to primary cosmic rays that on the Earth’s surface would be attenuated by the atmosphere; high-altitude laboratories for high-energy gamma-ray astronomy; and submarine laboratories for astronomy with high-energy neutrinos, which cross the entire globe unperturbed before being identified by detectors on the sea floor.
Finally, Italian physicists play a leading role in the detection of gravitational waves, both with the use of resonant bar antennas and the development of large interferometric detectors.Finally, Italian physicists play a leading role in the detection of gravitational waves, both with the use of resonant bar antennas and the development of large interferometric detectors.