Joint IAS Princeton University Astrophysics Colloquium

Nov
09
2021

Institute for Advanced Study / Princeton University Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

Numerical modeling of gravitational wave sources in multimessenger astronomy era
Kenta Kiuchi
11:00am|IAS, Wolfensohn Hall and via Zoom

GW170817 heralded the opening of multimessenger astronomy. To predict or interpret gravitational wave sources, numerical modeling, in particular, numerical relativity is a unique and viable tool. In this talk, I will present the current status of...

Nov
02
2021

Institute for Advanced Study / Princeton University Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

Magnetism in planet-forming disks and the solar nebula
Xuening Bai
11:00am|IAS, Wolfensohn Hall and via Zoom

Magnetism has been in the forefront in our understandings of protoplanetary disks (PPD) and planet formation. With the prevalence of disk substructures, a major observational revolution over the past few years, PPDs are now considered as “planet...

Oct
26
2021

Institute for Advanced Study / Princeton University Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

Implications, Tests, and Unsolved Problems in Cosmic Ray Feedback
Ellen Zweibel
11:00am|IAS, Bloomberg Lecture Hall and via Zoom

Cosmic rays, the relativistic component of diffuse astrophysical plasma, exchange energy and momentum with the thermal gas collisionlessly, mediated by the ambient magnetic field. Some but not all models of this interaction show that cosmic rays can...

Oct
12
2021

Institute for Advanced Study / Princeton University Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

Gemini Observatory in the 2020's
Jennifer Lotz
11:00am|IAS, Wolfensohn Lecture Hall and via Zoom

For two decades, the international Gemini Observatory has powered astronomical discovery for the entire U.S. community and the international Gemini partnership. Gemini’s twin 8.1m optical/infrared telescopes provide nightly access to both...

Oct
05
2021

Institute for Advanced Study / Princeton University Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

The PAH Revolution: Cold, Dark Carbon at the Earliest Stages of Star Formation
Brett McGuire
11:00am|IAS, Wolfensohn Hall and via Zoom

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been implicated as a large reservoir of reactive carbon in the interstellar medium since the 1980s. PAHs have been widely attributed as the carriers of the unidentified infrared bands where their...

Sep
28
2021

Institute for Advanced Study / Princeton University Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

All you need is a Normalizing Flow
Uros Seljak
11:00am|IAS, Wolfensohn Hall, Lecture Hall and via Zoom

Normalizing Flows (NF) are bijective maps from the data to a Gaussian (normal) distribution or viceversa. In contrast to other generative models they are lossless and provide data likelihood via the Jacobian of the transformation. I will first...

Sep
21
2021

Institute for Advanced Study / Princeton University Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

New views on the Milky Way
Amina Helmi
11:00am|IAS, Wolfensohn Hall, Lecture Hall and via Zoom

The Gaia mission and its data releases are driving a revolution in our understanding of the Milky Way and its constituents. In this talk, I will highlight a few of the results stemming from the analysis of the truly spectacular datasets produced so...

Sep
14
2021

Institute for Advanced Study / Princeton University Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

Soft Astronomy
Alice Quillen
11:00am|IAS, Wolfensohn Hall, Lecture Hall and via Zoom

Compact mass-spring models can measure remarkably small deformations while conserving angular momentum. We use them within an N-body code to simulate tidal evolution of viscoelastic spinning objects, tying simulated rheology to spin dynamics...

Sep
07
2021

Institute for Advanced Study / Princeton University Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

Cosmic magnetism from a computational perspective
Romain Teyssier
11:00am|IAS, Wolfensohn Hall and via Zoom

I will present a recent numerical study on the generation and the amplification of magnetic fields in the Universe. Through cosmological simulations of galaxy formation, we have studied the Biermann battery process that drives microscopic current...