Astrophysics Seminars

Oct
15
2020

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Binary star evolution: a multi-wavelength, multi-messenger puzzle
Katelyn Breivik
11:00am|Virtual Meeting

Recent observations of binary black hole and binary neutron star mergers have ignited interest in the formation and evolution of compact-object binary systems. However, by the time a compact-object binary merges and produces gravitational-wave...

Oct
08
2020

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Shock waves and gamma-ray bursts from neutron star mergers
Andrei Beloborodov
11:00am|Virtual Meeting

Neutron star merger GW 170817 was accompanied by a gamma-ray burst with luminosity $L\sim 10^{47}$ erg/s, coming with a ~2 s delay after the gravitational waves. Observations also indicate the presence of a dark, ultra-relativistic envelope ejected...

Oct
01
2020

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Hubble Views of Massive Clusters and Giant Arcs Discovered by Planck
11:00am|Virtual Meeting

We have undertaken a novel census of red sources identified by their rest-frame far infrared colors using Planck and Herschel telescopes, and not by the Sunyaev-Z'eldovich effect (SZE). The vast majority of sources are high-redshift galaxy...

Sep
24
2020

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Direct measurements of the Galactic acceleration
11:00am|Virtual Meeting

I will discuss recent work that lays out two methods to obtain direct measurements of the Galactic acceleration. First, I will review our recent work in using high precision spectrographs to measure the Galactic acceleration. These measurements can...

Sep
17
2020

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Turbulent power-law spectra in the universe
11:00am|Virtual Meeting

Turbulence is ubiquitous in astrophysical media and plays an essential role in a variety of fundamental astrophysical processes. The turbulent power-law spectra have been observed in the solar wind, the interstellar medium, the intracluster medium...

Sep
10
2020

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Physics and Astrophysics With Gravitational-Wave Observations of Black Hole Binaries
Emanuele Berti
11:00am|Virtual Meeting

The observation of compact binary mergers by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration marked the dawn of a new era in astronomy. LISA will expand this vision by opening a new observational window at low frequencies. The gravitational radiation emitted by...

Dec
12
2019

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

Probing Microphysics of the Hot Intracluster Medium
Irina Zhuravleva
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall, Astrophysics Library
Galaxy clusters are the largest dark matter-dominated objects in the Universe with the most massive baryonic component in the form of hot, X-ray-emitting plasma. Due to their size and relative simplicity, clusters are unique laboratories for probing...
Dec
05
2019

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

Studying the Magnetic Field of the Diffuse ISM in 3D
Gina Panopoulou
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall, Astrophysics Library
The ability to reconstruct the 3D magnetic field in the Galactic interstellar medium (ISM) is instrumental for many different scientific efforts. A 3D magnetic field reconstruction can inform us about the dynamics in star forming regions, the origin...
Nov
21
2019

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

Non-Gaussianity & the Spectral Tilt
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall, Astrophysics Library
Cosmological observations have revealed a small but non-zero deviation for scale invariance but remain consistent with perfectly Gaussian initial conditions. I will discuss how non-Gaussianity is related to deviations from exact scale and conformal...
Nov
14
2019

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

Star Cluster Populations: The Link Between Star Formation and Galaxy Formation
Michael Fall
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall, Astrophysics Library
This talk presents a general picture of star cluster populations, from their formation in the clumpy ISM to their eventual dissolution in the smooth stellar field. The picture is general or unified in the sense that it encompasses most traditional...