The Seattle Meeting of the Snowmass Process

We all know that particle physics is a global endeavor, with experiments on the time scale of decades and thousands of collaborators. The most recent European process to prepare a strategy for the next decade(s) has recently been completed and the report was published (https://europeanstrategy.cern/home). The United States is now reaching the end of a similar process.

The first steps of the Snowmass Process has been to understand the most important questions and challenges facing the field for the next decade, and then to work on studies that demonstrate the physics potential of different planned facilities and to network and communicate these ideas with colleagues to refine the ideas, all to answer the most pressing set of questions facing the field.

The name “Snowmass process” stems from a time when the community gathered at Snowmass, Colorado for about three weeks of intense work. Recent iterations of the process have been spread out over about a year – or two years in this case due to COVID-19. The final workshop is planned for July 17-26 in Seattle, with in-person attendance (http://seattlesnowmass2021.net/). A wide range of topics will be discussed there, from physics priorities, over experimental approaches and needs for computational tools, to accelerator facilities, with experts in each of these fields leading the broad discussions.

The workshop will be an important venue to develop a consensus and to sharpen the input to step two of the process, called P5, which advises the funding agency with a prioritization of projects.

Many CERN alumni are participating and help to shape the strategy for the US particle physics program. We expect about 500 participants at the final workshop, with another 300 participating remotely, and we look forward to seeing many of you in Seattle in July.

   Posted on behalf of the Seattle Snowmass 2022 local organising committee. Contact them at [email protected].