Astroparticle Physics

Astronomy observes large structures: our universe.
Particle physics studies the smallest building blocks of all matter.
Astroparticle physics combines these two extremes.

Our Earth is continuously being bombarded by particles from outer
space. A small fraction of these particles was unexpectedly found to
carry a lot of energy. To discover where such particles, and the source
of their energy, come from, new particle detectors are needed that are
suitable for observing neutrinos and protons with a very high energy.
That is difficult because the particles concerned are very rare and,
moreover, they normally fly unnoticed through detectors.

Download the English brochure on astroparticle physics at Nikhef.