 The 59th Yamada conference
entitled "Inflating horizons of particle astrophysics and cosmology" was
held during June 20-24, 2005. The conference site was Koshiba hall in
the Hongo campus of the University of Tokyo. We would like to cordially
thank the Yamada Science Foundation for the financial support to this
conference.
The basic framework of cosmology was developed in the last century and
wad beautifully confirmed by the WMAP 1st year data in 2003. Many key
ingredients of the current picture, most of which were regarded as interesting
but unrealistic ideas when first proposed, now have strong observational support.
Important examples include cosmic inflation, dark matter and dark energy. Nevertheless,
we still do not fully understand the nature of each of these in a physically
satisfactory manner.
The purpose of the conference was two-fold: to identify the most important
unsolved issues in particle astrophysics and cosmology; and then to discuss
the future directions which will inflate horizons of research into these issues
in the 21st century. The main topics at this conference were the early universe
and cosmology, neutrino physics, supernova explosions, high-energy astrophysics
and cosmic rays.
In order to secure ample time for focused discussion, the oral presentations
ware allocated only to invited speakers, and all other contributed papers were
presented in posters. 130 people from 11 countries participated.
The scientific program started on the morning of Tuesday, June 21, and
ended on the afternoon of Friday, June 24. We had a welcoming drinks reception
in the evening oh Monday, June 20, and a conference banquet on Wednesday, June
22, at Ukai Toriyama (a yakitori restaurant) in the country area of Tokyo.
We
would like to thank all the participants and authors for their contributions
to the success of the conference and the high scientific quality of the proceedings.
Hideyuki SUZUKI
Jun’ichi YOKOYAMA
Yasushi SUTO
Katsuhiko SATO
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