Astrophysics Seminars

Dec
06
2018

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

The Lyman Alpha Forest, DLAs and Other Absorption Systems as Tracers of Large-Scale Structure
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall, Astrophysics Library
The Lyman alpha forest, DLAs and metal absorbers are tracers of the large-scale structure with different linear bias factors, which can be measured and compared to model predictions. The large number of quasar spectra in the BOSS survey allowed for...
Nov
29
2018

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

The Milky Way's Stellar Streams and its Galactic Bar
Sarah Pearson
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall, Astrophysics Library
As clusters of stars orbit our own Milky Way, a gravitational tidal interaction unfolds and the clusters tear apart into distinct morphological and kinematic structures. From our understanding of gravity, the distribution and motion of these...
Nov
15
2018

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

Rare Views of Galaxy Cluster Laboratories
Brenda Frye and Brenda Frye
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall, Astrophysics Library
Galaxy clusters as astronomical tools generally offer two advantages: to boost the brightnesses of objects in the background, and to study the dark matter in the lens. We can now introduce a third use: to unveil properties of the underlying dark...
Nov
08
2018

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

Gravitational-wave Data: Analysis techniques and future prospects
Miriam Cabero Müller
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall, Astrophysics Library
Since the first discoveries of gravitational waves and the data release from the first observing run of Advanced LIGO, the astrophysics community has a growing interest to understand gravitational-wave data. In this talk, I will give an overview on...
Nov
01
2018

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

Simulations of Structure Formation Beyond CDM
Simeon Bird
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall, Astrophysics Library
I'll present new efficient and accurate techniques for including massive neutrinos in N-body simulations, using a linear response (to the cold dark matter) approximation for the neutrinos. Then I'll talk about the
potential for massive neutrinos to...
Oct
18
2018

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

Gravitational Lenses as High-resolution Telescopes
Anna Barnacka
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall, Astrophysics Library
The inner regions of active galaxies host the most extreme and energetic phenomena in the universe including, relativistic jets, supermassive black hole binaries, and recoiling supermassive black holes. However, many of these sources can not be...
Oct
11
2018

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

Looking for Light Relics and Missing Baryons with Cosmological Data
Julián Muñoz
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall, Astrophysics Library
In this talk I will cover two topics. First, I will talk about how to use large-scale structure data to search for light relics with small (but finite) masses, such as neutrinos. These particles are known to suppress the matter fluctuations at small...
Oct
04
2018

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

DAVs: Red Edge & Outbursts
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall, Astrophysics Library
As established by ground based surveys, white dwarfs with hydrogen atmospheres pulsate as they cool across the temperature range, 12,500 K Teff 10,800 K. Known as DAVs or ZZ Ceti stars, their oscillations are attributed to overstable g-modes...
Sep
27
2018

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

Harnessing Machine Learning to Study Stellar Feedback
Stella Offner
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall, Astrophysics Library
The interactions between forming stars and their environment shapes the natal cloud evolution, the efficiency at which stars form and the stellar initial mass function. Commonly, signatures of stellar feedback are identified “by eye.” However, this...