|
"Computational
Astrophysics"
July 13 - July 24, 2009
2009 Program
Prospects
in Theoretical Physics 2009 (PiTP 2009) is intended for graduate
students and postdoctoral fellows working in computational
astrophysics. The
goal is for young researchers to hone the numerical methods they employ
in
their own research and to learn about the techniques used in other
areas of
computational astrophysics. The lectures will cover numerical methods
used in
cosmology, general relativity, hydrodynamics and magnetohydrodynamics
(both
grid-based and particle-based), long-term orbit integrations, N-body
dynamics (both collisionless and rigid-body), and radiation hydrodynamics, as well as computing with GPUs.
PiTP 2009
will be organized more like a workshop than a school, and active
student
participation will be expected. The format will consist of two
90-minute lectures in the morning and tutorials, homework, and
discussion sessions in the afternoon. Students are expected to
carry out most of the computational
work that will be required on their personal laptops, although access
to desktop machines can be provided in exceptional cases.
The Scientific Organizers of
PiTP 2009
are: Scott
Tremaine (Institute for Advanced Study) and Jim Stone
(Princeton University).
Lecturers
for PiTP 2009 will include: the Scientific Organizers (see above), as
well as William Dorland (University of Maryland), Michael Norman (University of California at San Diego), Frans
Pretorius (Princeton University), Derek
Richardson (University of Maryland), Anatoly
Spitkovsky (Princeton University), and Volker
Springel (Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics).
The
application form for the 2009 program will be posted on this web site
by early
December 2008. The deadline for applications will be Monday,
March 2,
2009.
Background on PiTP
Prospects in Theoretical
Physics is an intensive two-week summer program designed for graduate
students and postdoctoral scholars considering a career in theoretical
physics. First held by the School of Natural Sciences at the
Institute for Advanced Study in the summer of 2002, the PiTP program is
designed to provide lecture courses and informal sessions on the latest
advances and open questions in various areas of theoretical physics.
One of the goals of the
program is to help the physics community train the next generation of
scholars in theoretical physics. A special effort is made to
reach out to women and minorities, as well as to graduate students in
small universities who typically do not have the same opportunities and
access to leaders in the field as graduate students in large research
institutions.
Prospects in Theoretical
Physics builds on the strong relationship of the research groups at the
Institute and Princeton University, and many faculty members from the
physics departments at both institutions are actively involved in the
program together with scientists from neighboring
institutions.
Additional Program History: 2002 - 2008
The
pilot program in the
summer of 2002 was an introduction to string theory tailored to
graduate students entering the field, where much attention was paid
also to particle phenomenology and cosmology. PiTP 2003 was
devoted to the problems and techniques at the interface of particle
physics and cosmology. PiTP 2004 was a program for advanced
graduate students in string theory, while PiTP 2005 was designed to
provide an introduction to collider physics. The
2006 Program covered recent
advances in string theory that have found applications to gauge
theories, integrable models, cosmology and mathematics. The
PiTP
2007 Program - "The Standard Model and Beyond" - focused on particle
physics phenomenology with special
emphasis on model building. In 2008 the program - entitled "Strings and
Phenomenology" - was designed for string theorists who wanted
to
learn about
issues of compactification relevant to phenomenology and cosmology, and
for phenomenologists who wanted to learn about strings and their
applications to phenomenology.
For further information about
the PiTP program,
please contact Susan Higgins, (609) 734-8198; e-mail: shiggins@ias.edu
|