Conference Service Mandl

abstract: The mathematical work concerned with or inspired by General Relativity has increased substantially over the years and is still expanding, thanks to the wide variety of interesting and challenging problems that General Relativity can offer in several distinct areas of Mathematics, for example PDEs, Geometry and Numerical Analysis. Fundamental open questions in General Relativity, such as the stability of Kerr, the formation and structure of Black Holes and the Cosmic Censorship Conjecture, require for their understanding a deep analysis of the global behavior of solutions to the Einsten equations.

This conference brings together leading experts on General Relativity/non-linear wave equations and will cover topics of current and future research in these fields.

abstract: With the ever-growing possibilities to simulate cosmic structure formation on scales covering a substantial number of orders of magnitude (both in mass and in size), we feel the time is ripe to not only consider and talk about the credibility of the simulation technique but also about the methods of how to actually map the modeled density fields and its physical properties back onto observational quantities.

Traditionally this involves the utilization of “halo finders”, i.e. codes that mine the simulation data looking for gravitationally bound objects. These programs are nowadays equally sophisticated and come with their own intrinsic advantages and drawbacks. And while they have been primarily developed “on a side” tailored to suit the needs of individual simulation codes we now like to bring the experts in the fields under the same roof to discuss their methodologies.

During this workshop there will be presentations of the most commonly used halo finding techniques (spherical overdensity, friends-of-friends, phase-space finders, tessellation techniques, etc.), exchange of views on their applicability and - very importantly - hands-on sessions where various halo finders will be applied to the same data sets.

abstract: The purpose of the school is to provide opportunity to gain practical observationnal experience at the telescope, in observatories with state of the art instrumentation. To this effect, the school proposes tutorial observations in small groups of 4 or 5 students, under the guidance of an experienced observer, centered around a small research project and going through all steps of a standard observing program. Some introductory and complementary lectures will be given by experts in the field.

abstract: A considerable amount of work has been devoted in recent years to the progenitors of the various types of stellar explosions, be it novae, supernovae or gamma-rays bursts. Theoreticians are actively exploring the different ingredients (mass, mass loss, metallicity, rotation, binarity, magnetic field) affecting the appearance of a massive star just before the time of its explosion (SNII, SNIb, SNIc, long gamma-ray burst), as well as the different pathways leading to explosions in binary systems (novae, SNIa, short gamma-ray burst). On the observationnal side, several progenitors of SNII have already been identified in deep HST images of their host galaxies and tantalizing hints on the role of metallicity in shaping the properties of SN types have been obtained recently. Reliable statistics for various SN frequencies as a function of type of the host galaxy have been established at low redshift and this type of work is currently extended to higher redshifts.

The general situation is expected to evolve rapidly, with the development of current and forthcoming surveys (SDSS, SN Factory, LAMOST, PAnnStars, Gaia and later the LSST), which will provide large, homogeneous, samples of SN. In such conditions, a Workshop on the aforementioned topic appears quite timely.

abstract: Stars are one of the fundamental building blocks of the Universe: the source of most of the chemical elements, a crucial ingredient in the formation and evolution of galaxies, the progenitors of supernovae, gamma ray bursts, and black holes, the hosts of planetary systems, and the sustainer of life. In some ways, stars are relatively simple objects; the evolution and fate of a star is almost uniquely determined by its mass. However, the formation of a star is anything but simple, involving a complex interplay between gravity, hydrodynamics, magnetic fields, radiation transport, and chemistry. Great progress has been made in delineating the roles of these physical processes through theory and observations, but a fundamental mystery remains, one of the most important questions in astronomy. What determines the masses of stars and how does the distribution of stellar masses arise, the so-called Initial Mass Function (IMF)?

We expect that progress in answering this question will accelerate with the advent of several new instruments operating at (sub-)mm wavelengths and the increasing ability for numerical models to include the relevant physics. The Herschel Space Observatory has just begun science observations, SCUBA-2 on the JCMT has just become operational, and the first early science observations with ALMA should be made in the year following this meeting. On the theoretical side, hydrodynamical simulations of star formation have been able to begin including magnetic fields, radiation transport, and chemistry.

In recognition of the fact that this field is highly active with many young researchers, there will be an emphasis on talks given by young researchers and the programme will include ample time for discussion led by panels of experience researchers.