Cosmological Non-Gaussianity: Observations Confront Theory Workshop

May 13-15, 2011	Sponsored by:
340 West Hall	&
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Central Campus

ATTENTION: ON CAMPUS HOTEL (CAMPUS INN) ROOM BLOCK RELEASE DATE IS APRIL 12TH

BANQUET DINNER ON SATURDAY MAY 14

Constraining and detecting primordial non-Gaussianity are some of the most fundamental and important tests of the cosmological model. While standard inflation predicts little or no Gaussianity, various inflationary models that predict a potentially observable level of non-Gaussianity have been proposed. Improved limits on nongaussianity would rule out some of these models; conversely, a robust detection of primordial non-Gaussianity would provide invaluable new information about the nature of physical processes in the early universe.

Recently there has been resurgence of interest in non-Gaussianity. Limits from existing data in the cosmic microwave background have already improved by two orders of magnitude between the COBE and WMAP satellite data. Estimates show that another one or two orders-of-magnitude improvement is possible once data from upcoming wide-field galaxy surveys are combined with Planck's CMB data. Along these lines, there was a flurry of activity recently by both theorists and data analysts in predicting and classifying the various nongaussian signals, and learning how to extract them from the current or future data.

We plan to bring together theorists and data analysts in this 3-day workshop on primordial non-Gaussianity to consolidate the recent progress and discuss  future efforts. The workshop is supported jointly by the Michigan Center for Theoretical Physics (MCTP) at the University of Michigan, and Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics (KICP) at the University of Chicago. We expect attendance by about 50 worldwide leaders in the field of non-Gaussianity.