KICP Workshops, 2019
 
Workshop: "Astrophysics with the CMB-S4 Survey"
April 15 - 16, 2019 | Chicago, IL
Picture: Workshop: Astrophysics with the CMB-S4 Survey
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Organizer: John E. Carlstrom

The purpose of the workshop is to bring together leading astronomers and astrophysicists to integrate the planned CMB-S4 Legacy Survey, a multi-band millimeter wave survey covering roughly half the sky at unprecedented sensitivity and observing cadence, with other directions in astrophysics. This includes the time variable sky as seen in solar system science, stellar variability, binary evolution, supernovae, tidal disruption events, and gamma-ray bursts, as well as high-redshift star formation and studies of feedback from black holes and star formation on the intergalactic medium, including galaxy cluster thermodynamics and reionization.
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KICP Members: John E. Carlstrom
Scientific projects: South Pole Telescope (SPT)

 
2019 DAMIC-M: DAMIC-M collaboration meeting
July 8 - 12, 2019 | Paris, France
Picture: 2019 DAMIC-M: DAMIC-M collaboration meeting
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Organizers: Paolo Privitera, Radomir Smida

The 2019 DAMIC-M Collaboration Meeting will be held on July 8-12 in Paris, France.
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KICP Members: Paolo Privitera; Radomir Smida
Scientific projects: Dark Matter in CCDs (DAMIC)

 
LSST Dark Matter Workshop
August 5 - 7, 2019 | Chicago, IL
Picture: LSST Dark Matter Workshop
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Organizer: Alex Drlica-Wagner

Dark matter constitutes roughly 85% of the matter density of the Universe, and represents a critical gap in our understanding of fundamental physics. Despite extensive experimental efforts, the only robust, positive empirical measurement of dark matter continues to come from cosmological and astrophysical observations. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) offers a versatile platform to investigate dark matter. This workshop will focus on new ideas for probing the fundamental nature of dark matter with LSST and other future observations.

Potential discussion topics for this workshop Include:
- Warm and self-interacting particle dark matter
- Compact objects
- Ultra-light and fuzzy dark matter
- Near-field cosmology
- Gravitational lensing (weak, strong, and micro)
- Galaxy clusters
- Large scale structure
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KICP Members: Alex Drlica-Wagner
KICP Students: Nora Shipp
Scientific projects: Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)

 
SCAM-2019: SNIa-Cosmology Analysis Meeting
October 2 - 4, 2019 | Chicago, IL
Picture: SCAM-2019: SNIa-Cosmology Analysis Meeting
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Organizer: Richard Kessler

The era of large photometrically identified samples of Type Ia Supernovae (SNIa) has begun, opening the door to a variety of cosmological probes. This workshop will focus on analysis methods being applied to current data sets (e.g., CfA, CSP, DES, Foundation, PS1, SDSS, SNf, SNLS) and new methods anticipated for future data sets (e.g., LSST, WFIRST). We will discuss how current methods need to evolve for the challenge of much larger SNIa samples, and also discuss the challenges of developing new analysis methods. This meeting will include presentations with significant discussion time. We have limited travel support for early career scientists.
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KICP Members: Richard Kessler
Scientific projects: Dark Energy Survey (DES); Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)

 
Conference: Cosmic Controversies
October 5 - 8, 2019 | Gleacher center, Chicago
Picture: Conference: Cosmic Controversies
Gleacher center, Chicago
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Organizers: John E. Carlstrom, Edward W. Kolb, Wendy L. Freedman, Joshua A. Frieman, Michael S. Turner

Are we close to a fundamental cosmological paradigm, or is a major disruption imminent?

Is cosmology on the verge of a fundamental description of the Universe from a tiny fraction of a second after the big bang until today based upon LCDM, or is it on the cusp of major disruption and re-organization of our understanding of the Universe? Eight cosmic controversies - the value(s) the Hubble constant, viability of CDM, cause of cosmic acceleration, validity of inflation, the existence of a dark matter particle, clarity about the multiverse, origin of ordinary matter, and other loose ends in the paradigm - have much to say about the direction cosmology will take in the next decade and may the answer the question above. Our cosmology conclave will focus on these controversies and address how best to resolve them.

The controversies
  1. What is the resolution of the current H0 discrepancy?
  2. Is a theory beyond Cold Dark Matter needed to describe structure formation?
  3. What is the explanation of Cosmic Acceleration?
  4. Can Inflation be transformed into a fundamental theory of the early Universe?
  5. Do we need the Multiverse and can it made turned into a scientific theory?
  6. Is there a Dark Matter Particle or do we need another explanation for the dark matter phenomenon?
  7. Whither Baryogenesis?
  8. Are we close to Cosmic Convergence or on a path to Cosmic Disruption?


... and what tools are critical for making progress in cosmology in the coming decades?

Conference Format
Eight, 90-minute afternoon panels featuring a moderator/chair and 3 speakers. Forty-some 25-minute invited morning talks that inform the panels, and contributed posters. Evenings include a public event, a banquet and a poster session reception.
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KICP Members: John E. Carlstrom; Wendy L. Freedman; Joshua A. Frieman; Edward W. Kolb; Michael S. Turner

 
90th Compton Lecture: Reed Clasey Essick, "What to Do When Gravity Waves"
October 19, 2019 | KPTC, Room 106
Picture: 90th Compton Lecture: Reed Clasey Essick, What to Do When Gravity Waves
Gravitational Waves are a completely new way of observing our universe and have already revolutionized our understanding of multiple types of astrophysical phenomena in the four short years since they were first directly detected. In this lecture series, we'll review the basics of General Relativity, the modern theory of gravity, how we detect Gravitational Waves on Earth, and investigate what they can tell us about our universe.

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KICP Members: Reed C. Essick