Report of the 2021 U.S. Community Study on the Future of Particle Physics (Snowmass 2021) Summary Chapter

TL;DR

The Snowmass 2021 report summarizes the U.S. particle physics community's key scientific questions, priorities, and infrastructure needs for the next decade, guiding future research directions and investments.

Contribution

This report provides a comprehensive community-driven synthesis of scientific goals, challenges, and strategic plans for U.S. high-energy physics through 2033.

Findings

Identification of key scientific questions for the next decade

Assessment of experimental and infrastructural needs

Guidance for funding and research priorities

Abstract

The 2021-22 High-Energy Physics Community Planning Exercise (a.k.a. ``Snowmass 2021'') was organized by the Division of Particles and Fields of the American Physical Society. Snowmass 2021 was a scientific study that provided an opportunity for the entire U.S. particle physics community, along with its international partners, to identify the most important scientific questions in High Energy Physics for the following decade, with an eye to the decade after that, and the experiments, facilities, infrastructure, and R&D needed to pursue them. This Snowmass summary report synthesizes the lessons learned and the main conclusions of the Community Planning Exercise as a whole and presents a community-informed synopsis of U.S. particle physics at the beginning of 2023. This document, along with the Snowmass reports from the various subfields, will provide input to the 2023 Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) subpanel of the U.S. High-Energy Physics Advisory Panel (HEPAP), and will help to guide and inform the activity of the U.S. particle physics community during the next decade and beyond.