IOAA 2017 Newsletter Vol.2

HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Focusing on Academic & Cultural Interaction in the IOAA 2017

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Vol.2

IOAA 2017 Newsletter

14th November 2017

HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE ASTRONOMER

is a very great honor for all of us to have HRH Princess Maha ItChakri Sirindhorn to unveil the event.

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Vol.2

Her Royal Highness is not only interested in astronomy but she is also an expert and supporter of astronomy in Thailand. She welcomes all participants for this remarkable occation. This is a platform for highly performed high school students from all around the world to come together and demonstrate their abilities in sciences.

IOAA 2017 Newsletter

14th November 2017

Student Program Details Date Date

Time Time

Tuesday 06.30- -07.30 07.30 Tuesday 06.30 November 08.00 08.00 1414November 08.30- -12.30 12.30 08.30 12.30- -14.00 14.00 12.30 14.00- -16.00 16.00 14.00 16.00- -16.30 16.30 16.00 16.30 16.30 19.30- -22.00 22.00 19.30

Programme Programme Breakfast Breakfast Readyatatthe theHall Hall Ready Dataanalysis analysisexam exam Data Lunch Lunch Recreationactivity activity Recreation Dinner Dinner Departurefor for Departure observationexam exam observation Nightobservation observationexam exam Night

Wednesday 06.30 - 09.00 Breakfast Wednesday 06.30 - 09.00 Breakfast 15 November 10.00 - 18.00 Excursion 15 November 10.00 - 18.00 Excursion 18:00 - 19:00 Dinner 18:00 - 19:00 Dinner

Leader Program Details Venue Venue

Date

Time

Tuesday 14 November

06:30 06:30 -- 09:00 09:00 10:00 12:30 18:00 18:00 22:00 22:00

Promthep cape cape Promthep

Phuket excursion Phuket excursion Duangjitt hotel Duangjitt hotel

Wednesday Wednesday 15 November November 15

06:30 06:30 -- 09:00 09:00 09:00 09:00 -- 12.00 12.00 12:30 12:30 -- 13:30 13:30 13:30 - 18:00 13:30 - 18:00 18:00 - 19:00 18:00 - 19:00 19:00 - 24:00 19:00 - 24:00 22:00 22:00

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Programme Programme Breakfast Breakfast Excursion Excursion Lunch Lunch Buffet BuffetDinner Dinner// cultural culturalshow show Departure Departureto tohotel hotel Breakfast Breakfast IBM2.Theory IBM2.Theorydiscussion discussion Lunch Lunch IBM2.Theory discussion IBM2.Theory discussion Dinner Dinner IBM2.Theory discussion IBM2.Theory discussion and translation and translation Distribution of Data Analysis Distribution of Data Analysis answer sheets answer sheets

Venue Venue Phuket PhuketCity CityTour Tour Kan KanEng EngatatPier Pier resturant resturant Phuket PhuketFantasea Fantasea

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urthermore, this Olympiad is a great opportunity for students and scholars to interact and exchange ideas. Besides gaining significant academic experience, it is also key for people who are interested in the same field to become familiar with one another.

Therefore, the Olympiad is a wonderful opportunity for more than 300 astronomers and astrophysicists to not only become friends, but also potential future collaborators as well. Most importantly, this event will enhance both cultural understanding and strong relationships among all the participating nations.

HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn

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osmologists are heading back to their chalkboards, as experiments designed to figure out the nature of dark matter come up empty.

Map of all matter – most of which is invisible dark matter – between Earth and the edge of the observable universe.

Image via ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech.

What is Dark Matter?

By EarthSky Voices in SPACE | October 30, 2017

the Large Hadron Collider has by all technical standards performed beautifully, with the exception of the Higgs boson, no new particles or other phenomena have been discovered.

By Dan Hooper, University of Chicago

At Fermilab, the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search uses towers of disks made from silicon and germanium to search for particle interactions from dark matter. Image via Reidar Hahn/Fermilab.

The past few decades have ushered in an amazing era in the science of cosmology. A diverse array of highprecision measurements has allowed us to reconstruct our universe’s history in remarkable detail.

And when we compare different measurements – of the expansion rate of the universe, the patterns of light released in the formation of the first atoms, the distributions in space of galaxies and galaxy clusters and the abundances of various chemical species – we find that they all tell the same story, and all support the same series of events.

This line of research has, frankly, been more successful than I think we had any right to have hoped. We know more about the origin and history of our universe today than almost anyone a few decades ago would have guessed that we would learn in such a short time.

But despite these very considerable successes, there remains much more to be learned. And in some ways, the discoveries made in recent decades have raised as many new questions as they have answered.

What is perhaps most vexing is that which is at the heart of what our universe is actually made of. Cosmological observations have determined the average density of matter in our universe to be very high precision. But this density turns out to be much greater than can be accounted for with ordinary atoms.

After decades of measurements and debate, we are now confident that the overwhelming majority of our universe’s matter – about 84 percent – is not made up of atoms, or of any other known substance. Although we can feel the gravitational pull of this other matter, and clearly tell that it’s there, we simply do not know what it is. This mysterious stuff is invisible, or at least nearly so. For lack of a better name, we call it “dark matter.”

But naming something is very different from understanding it.

Astronomers map dark matter indirectly, via its gravitational pull on other objects. Image via NASA, ESA, and D. Coe (NASA JPL/Caltech and STScI).

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For almost as long as we’ve known that dark matter exists, physicists and astronomers have been devising ways to try to learn what it’s made of. They’ve built ultra-sensitive detectors, deployed in deep underground mines, in an effort to measure the gentle impacts of individual dark matter particles colliding with atoms.

They’ve built exotic telescopes – sensitive not to optical light but to less familiar gamma rays, cosmic rays and neutrinos – to search for the high-energy radiation that is thought to be generated through the interactions of dark matter particles.

The stubborn elusiveness of dark matter has left many scientists both surprised and confused. We had what seemed like very good reasons to expect particles of dark matter to be discovered by now. And yet the hunt continues, and the mystery deepens.

In many ways, we have only more open questions now than we did a decade or two ago. And at times, it can seem that the more precisely we measure our universe, the less we understand it. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, theoretical particle physicists were often very successful at predicting the kinds of particles that would be discovered as accelerators became increasingly powerful. It was a truly impressive run.

And we have searched for signs of dark matter using incredible machines which accelerate beams of particles – typically protons or electrons – up to the highest speeds possible, and then smash them into one another in an effort to convert their energy into matter. The idea is these collisions could create new and exotic substances, perhaps including the kinds of particles that make up the dark matter of our universe.

As recently as a decade ago, most cosmologists – including myself – were reasonably confident that we would soon begin to solve the puzzle of dark matter. After all, there was an ambitious experimental program on the horizon, which we anticipated would enable us to identify the nature of this substance and to begin to measure its properties. This program included the world’s most powerful particle accelerator – the Large Hadron Collider – as well as an array of other new experiments and powerful telescopes.

Experiments at CERN are trying to zero in on dark matter – but so far no dice. Image via CERN. But things did not play out the way that we expected them to. Although these experiments and observations have been carried out as well as or better than we could have hoped, the discoveries did not come.

Over the past 15 years, for example, experiments designed to detect individual particles of dark matter have become a million times more sensitive, and yet no signs of these elusive particles have appeared. And although

But our prescience seems to have come to an end – the long-predicted particles associated with our favorite and most wellmotivated theories have stubbornly refused to appear. Perhaps the discoveries of such particles are right around the corner, and our confidence will soon be restored. But right now, there seems to be little support for such optimism.

In response, droves of physicists are going back to their chalkboards, revisiting and revising their assumptions. With bruised egos and a bit more humility, we are desperately attempting to find a new way to make sense of our world.

Dan Hooper, Associate Scientist in Theoretical Astrophysics at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and Associate Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago http://earthsky.org/space/what-is-darkmatter?mc_cid=ee4c010bfe&mc_ eid=3a757c2452

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HRH PRINCESS MAHA CHAKRI SIRINDHORN UNVEILED THE IOAA 2017

n the past decade, IOAA has gone from strength to strength - the number of participating countries has been doubled since it first started with only 21 countries. The latest IOAA in Bhubaneswar, India saw the drastic increase in number to 42 participating countries. This year, in Phuket, we shall see 45 countries participating IOAA and that is an amazing number considering the event is still very young, compared to other academic Olympiads in other disciplines. ith boundless and gracious kindness, the 11th IOAA is presided over by Your Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn- the true patron who paved the way for Thai astronomy for decades. Your tireless support for astronomy in Thailand has been felt through countless projects under your royal initiatives.

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PRE-COMPETITION INTERVIEWS T

he “Pleiades Team” also took a moment to gather the thoughts and expectations of each participant as the excitement begins to stir just a few hours before the competition. Let’s see what the participants had to say

Mr. Suparerk Karuehanon SCORING COMMITTEE FROM THAILAND

is the day for all the students to test and Tusedoday experience the two telescopes which will be in the on-field observation section exam

on November 14th at Promthep cape. We provide them 2 hours for this. They all can see the telescope first so it is fair for them.

Miss Dajana Posavcic TEAM LEADER FORM SERBIA

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his is my first time joining such a big event.

This is very great experience for both students and team leader. I believe our team will do our best in the competition.

Dr. Cristian Pirghie TEAM LEADER FROM ROMANIA

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his is a good opportunity to be able to join this event. We not only get more knowledge in astronomy, but we can make more friends from all around the world, and especially be able to learn more about Thai culture. This is the first time for me in Thailand. Before I only know about Thailand from going to eat Thai food in Romania.

This event makes me know more about Thailand.

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Mr. Vinicius Santor Contestant from Brazil

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ur team has been preparing for about 2 years for this contest, especially for on-field practices such as when we were in Sao Paulo and Rio. We have also practiced many exam rehearsals. Therefore, we are very confident that we will bring back medals for our country.

Mr. Silasack Silavongsith Contestant from Laos

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his is the first year that our team has joined the event.

H o w e v e r, w e a r e v e r y confident since we have practiced and prepared ourselves a lot in the past month. Our teachers have prepared us well and given us a lot of advice to get ready for this.

Miss Kim Janovski Contestant from Croatia

Mr.Tarun Timalsina Contestant from Nepal

have already seen the telescope that we will use for the competition. It is a very good and effective telescope and I will try my best to learn how to use it as much as possible. Also, I want to wish all the candidates good luck in the real exam field.

his is my second year. I've found that the atmosphere and concepts for this year are quite similar to last year’s event in India. So, I don't feel nervous. For me, this is not a competition, this is rather a learning stage where we can all exchange our knowledge.

It’s better to think like that. For this contest, everyone is a winner.

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Mr. Li Yuan Contestant from China

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his is the first time I’ve seen a telescope. It is so big, both the stand and the body. But, I think we can easily use it. Also, for this time contest, the thing that is even more important than winning or losing is really getting to make new friends from across the globe.

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Miss Sunyoung Park Contestant from

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South Korea

ven though I am quite nervous and a little worried, I still think that my effort and preparation will earn me some awards.

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T O H OT S

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