Mini-Symposium
The Enrico Fermi Institute of the University of Chicago mini-symposium are topical meetings covering an area of ongoing research at the Fermi Institute, with the purpose of informing the University community about the variety and scope of the activities taking place at the Institute.
EFI Mini-Symposium are held once each quarter in the Research Institutes Building, 5640 S. Ellis Ave., Room 480.
Past mini-symposium have covered the following topics:
- Antarctic Research
- Supersymmetry
- First Science Results from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
- Recent Development of the Astrophysics of Interstellar Atoms and Molecules
- Non-Linear Astrophysics
- Physics at the High Energy Frontier
- Observational Cosmology at Chicago
Upcoming Mini-Symposium
"Interstellar Molecules"
Date: Friday, April 20, 2007
Location: Research Institute Building, 5640 South Ellis Ave, RI 480
Time: 10:00am - 3:45 pm
Organized by: Donald G. York and Takeshi Oka
Astronomy is the almighty science. “It got physics started by showing the beautiful simplicity of the motion of stars and planets” (Feynman Lecture I. 3-6). Now it is beginning to engulf chemistry by showing exquisite spectra! It has been observationally established that hydrogen in the Universe is more molecular than atomic, over 100 molecules exist abundantly in interstellar space, and molecules are essential for star formation. We here discuss some recent developments starting from the most fundamental H3+, which plays the pivotal role in interstellar chemistry, to the diffuse interstellar bands, an enigma for astronomers for nearly 100 years, whose carriers are yet to be identified but are surely complex organic molecules.
Download the abstracts [PDF]
| Morning: D.G. York, Chair | |
|---|---|
| 10:00 AM | Opening Remarks Jim Pilcher (UofC) |
| 10:05 AM | "H3+ A Tracer of the Cosmic Ray Ionization Rate in Diffuse Clouds" Benjamin J. McCall (Univ. of IL, Urbana-Champaign) |
| 11:40AM | "Central Molecular Zone: The Treasure House of H3+" Takeshi Oka (UofC) |
| 11:15 AM | "Masers as Probes of Interacting Supernova Remnants and Massive Star Formation in the Nuclear Disk of the Galaxy" Farhad Yusef-Zadeh (Northwestern Univ.) |
| 12:00 PM | Lunch talk: “Mega-masers, Hubble Constant and Dark Energy” Fred K. Y. Lo (National Radio Astronomy Observatory) |
| Afternoon: Takeshi Oka, Chair | |
| 1:05 PM | "UV/Optical Observations of Diatomic Molecules in Diffuse and Translucent Clouds" Daniel E. Welty (UofC) |
| 1:40 PM | "Molecular Anions in the Laboratory and in Space" Michael C. McCarthy (Harvard Univ.) |
| 2:15 PM | Break |
| 2:35 PM | "A Quest to Reveal the Signatures of Aromatic Compounds in Space" Robert J. McMahon (Univ. of WI) |
| 3:10 PM | "Diffuse Interstellar bands: Ubiquitous Large Molecules in Diffuse and Translucent Clouds" Donald G. York (UofC) |
(30-minute talks with 5-minutes for questions)
Contacts: Don York: don@oddjob.uchicago.edu; Takeshi Oka: t-oka@uchicago.edu
Previous Mini-Symposiums
"In Honor of Dietrich Müller"
Friday, October 20, 2006
9:30 am - 3:30 p.m
Organized by: Simon Swordy
The constant bombardment of the Earth by particles from space has been an intriguing topic since its discovery nearly a century ago. Some of the most important advances in the understanding of this cosmic radiation and its origin have been made by direct measurements above the atmosphere. This mini-symposium is in honor of Dietrich Müller, who has been a leader in this field for many years. The program provides an overview of some of the key scientific issues in the field of cosmic ray measurements and a discussion of future possibilities in the context of NASA's scientific balloon program.
"50-Years of Space Exploration On Occasion of Tony Tuzzolino’s Retirement"
Friday, May 12, 2006
Organized by: Tom Economou.
"Cosmology with Galaxy Clusters"
Friday, October 7, 2005
11:45 AM - 12:10 PM - Lunch and Refreshments
12:10 PM - 5:45 PM - Symposium
Clusters of galaxies can serve as powerful cosmological probes of the nature of mysterious dark matter and dark energy. However, to derive tight cosmological constraints, it is critical to understand the observable properties and evolution of clusters in detail. Significant advances in both observational and theoretical studies of clusters have occurred in the last several years thanks to availability of new multi-wavelength data on clusters from large optical surveys, high-resolution X-ray data, and the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect observations, as well as new generation high-resolution cosmological simulations of cluster formation. The goal of this Mini-Symposium is to bring together observers and theorists to review the recent progress in the field and to discuss strategies and directions of cluster research in the near future.
| Agenda | |
|---|---|
| 11:45 AM - 12:10 PM | Refreshments/Box Lunches |
| 12:10 PM - 12:15 PM | James Pilcher (Director, Enrico Fermi Institute; Professor or Physics (UofC) Opening Remarks |
| 12:15 PM - 1:00 PM | Joseph Mohr (UIUC) (40+5) "Cosmology with Galaxy Clusters" (intro review) |
| 1:00 PM - 1:35 PM | Alexey Vikhlinin (SAO/Harvard) (30+5) "Cluster Structure and Cosmology with X-Ray Data" |
| 1:35 PM - 2:10 PM | John Carlstrom (UofC) (30+5) "Cosmology with SZA/SPT Surveys" |
| 2:10 PM - 2:40 PM | Wayne Hu (UofC) (25+5) "Cluster Surveys: Calibration Issues" |
| 2:40 PM - 3:10 PM | Coffee Break |
| 3:10 PM - 3:45 PM | Timothy McKay (University of Michigan) (30+5) "Optical Cluster Measurements: Observational Limitations and Opportunities" |
| 3:45 PM - 4:10 PM | Risa Wechsler (UofC) (20+5) "Cosmology with Optical Cluster Surveys" |
| 4:10 PM - 4:45 PM | Joshua Frieman (Fermilab/UofC) (30+5) "Dark Energy Survey" |
| 4:45 PM - 5:15 PM | August Evrard (University of Michigan) (25+5) "Cluster Abundance and Scaling Relations from Simulations" |
| 5:15 PM - 5:45 PM | Andrey Kravtsov (UofC) (25+5) "Modeling Cluster Observable-Mass Relations with Numerical Simulations" |
Contact: Andrey Kravtsov: andrey@oddjob.uchicago.edu/LASR 210; (773) 702-4249