Astrophysics Seminars

Mar
05
2026

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Improving Neutron Star Mergers with Advanced Computational Methods
11:00am|Bloomberg Lecture Hall

Continual improvements to our observational capabilities promise a wealth of data from binary neutron star systems in the coming years and decades, which will find broad applications across several fields of physics. However, the current generation...

Feb
26
2026

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Hierarchical few body problem at High Eccentricity is a simple pendulum
11:00am|Bloomberg Lecture Hall

I will present and discuss new analytical solutions to high eccentricity perturbed Keplerian orbits undergoing Kozai-Lidov oscillations. In particular, I will show that the complex dynamics of hierarchical few body stellar systems - can be reduced...

Feb
19
2026

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Rethinking about gravitational instability as a planet formation scenario
Cristiano Longarini
11:00am|Bloomberg Lecture Hall

The ubiquity of substructures in protoplanetary discs has opened debate regarding the alignment of planet formation timescales with protostellar disc evolution. Under the hypothesis of the planetary interpretation, a robust conclusion is that a...

Feb
12
2026

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Theory for innovative cosmological tests of dark matter-baryon interactions
Yacine Ali-Haimoud
11:00am|Bloomberg Lecture Hall

Among many things, dark matter could be made of new fundamental or composite particles, which may feebly interact with nuclei or electrons (“baryons”), as well as with themselves. Cosmological observables are a promising avenue to test such...

Feb
05
2026

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Dynamics of stellar binaries in nuclear star clusters
Mark Dodici
11:00am|Bloomberg Lecture Hall

Binary stars in the central parsecs of galaxies are involved in the production of several modern astronomical phenomena, including hypervelocity stars, repeating partial tidal disruption events, and dust-enshrouded objects around Sgr A*. I present...

Dec
11
2025

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Are We There Yet? First-principles Modeling of Multimessenger Signals in the Plasma Universe
Bart Ripperda
11:00am|Bloomberg Lecture Hall

Astrophysical black holes are surrounded by accretion disks, jets, magnetospheres, and coronae consisting of magnetized relativistic plasma. They produce observable multi wavelength and multi messenger signals from near the event horizon and it is...

Dec
04
2025

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Weak gravitational lensing and cosmology
Bhuvnesh Jain
11:00am|Bloomberg Lecture Hall

I will motivate current work in weak gravitational lensing with cosmic and astrophysical puzzles. The evolution of dark energy, the growth of structure and feedback from supermassive black holes are some of the debated questions. I will describe how...

Nov
20
2025

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Supermassive black hole demographics with tidal disruption events
11:00am|Bloomberg Lecture Hall

Tidal disruption events — where an unfortunate star is destroyed by a previously quiescent supermassive black hole — offer a unique probe of the low mass end of the supermassive black hole population. Recent observational advances have lead to the...

Nov
13
2025

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

On the Performance of High-Order Methods in Astrophysical Scenarios
11:00am|Bloomberg Lecture Hall

This study evaluates the performance and applicability of the high-order Spectral-Difference (SD) method in astrophysical contexts. We begin by analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of SD relative to the widely used Finite-Volume (FV) methods...

Nov
06
2025

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Unveiling the origin of black-hole binaries with gravitational waves
Javier Roulet
11:00am|Bloomberg Lecture Hall

After ten years of gravitational-wave observations with the LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA interferometers, over 200 signals from merging black hole binaries have been detected, bringing us closer to understanding how these systems form. Addressing this question...