KICP Workshops, 2018
 
Workshop: Towards Dark Matter Discovery
April 11 - 13, 2018 | Chicago, IL
Picture: Workshop: Towards Dark Matter Discovery
Website

Organizers: Andrew J. Long, Daniel Hooper, Carlos E. M. Wagner

The Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics (KICP) at the University of Chicago is hosting the "Towards Dark Matter Discovery" workshop, which will be held from 11th to 13th April 2018 in the Eckhardt Research Center (ERC) on the University of Chicago campus.

The workshop will explore new directions on the path toward discovering the nature of dark matter. The invited speakers are encouraged to share their expertise in the fields of primordial black holes, thermal relic dark matter, nonthermal relic dark matter, ultralight dark matter, superheavy dark matter, kinda-chubby dark matter, new strategies for direct detection, newer strategies for direct detection, avant-garde strategies for direct detection, and axions. During the three day workshop, we will host approximately 20 talks of 30 minutes each with generous time remaining for discussion.

Visitors to the University of Chicago are invited to spend the entire week at the university.
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Related Links:
KICP Members: Daniel Hooper; Andrew J. Long; Carlos E. M. Wagner

 
Workshop: Joint SPT-DES Analysis
June 20 - 22, 2018 | Chicago, IL
Picture: Workshop: Joint SPT-DES Analysis
Website

Organizers: Bradford A. Benson, Lindsey Bleem, Chihway Chang, Thomas M. Crawford, Joshua A. Frieman, Patricia Larsen, Yuanyuan Zhang, Kimmy (Wai Ling) Wu

The Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics (KICP) at the University of Chicago is hosting the "SPTxDES Joint Analysis" workshop, which will be held from 20th to 22nd June 2018 in the Eckhardt Research Center (ERC) on the University of Chicago campus.

This workshop focuses on the science at the intersection of two leading cosmology experiments---the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the South Pole Telescope (SPT) - with the goal of optimal extraction of cosmological constraints from these two surveys.

The workshop would serve as both a forum for discussions on current analyses as well as an incubator for future ideas. The meeting will cover two main themes: galaxy clusters and wide-field science. While these topics cover a broad spectrum, we will target the workshop such that it accelerates joint work on these key areas of synergy between the two collaborations.
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Related Links:
KICP Members: Bradford A. Benson; Lindsey Bleem; Chihway Chang; Thomas M. Crawford; Joshua A. Frieman; Patricia Larsen; Kimmy (Wai Ling) Wu; Yuanyuan Zhang
Scientific projects: Dark Energy Survey (DES); South Pole Telescope (SPT)

 
Workshop: Near-Field Cosmology with the Dark Energy Survey's DR1 and Beyond
June 27 - 29, 2018 | Chicago, IL
Picture: Workshop: Near-Field Cosmology with the Dark Energy Surveys DR1 and Beyond
Website

Organizers: Alex Drlica-Wagner, Andrey V. Kravtsov, Ting Li

Stars in our Milky Way and galaxies in our Local Group contain the fossils and clues on stellar evolution and supernovae, the formation and evolution of star clusters and dwarf galaxies, and the formation of large spiral galaxies. Rapid progress in this field -- usually called Galactic Archeology -- was enabled by large-area imaging and spectroscopic surveys of old stellar components of the Milky Way and dwarf galaxies, together with simulations of chemical and dynamical evolution. The field of Near-Field Cosmology extends the scope of these studies to probe the formation and evolution of galaxies and the nature of dark matter.

The Dark Energy Survey (DES) is releasing its DR1, with catalogs and images from the first three years of DES operations early in 2018, including 400M objects (100M stellar sources in grizY band to r of 24th magnitude at 10 sigma) over 5000 square degrees mostly in the Southern Galactic cap. This survey is about 2 magnitudes fainter than SDSS at the same S/N. In addition to DES, many other DECam community surveys, such as DECaLS, DECaPS, SMASH, MagLiteS, BLISS, etc, have already had or will soon have the public data release.

Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics (KICP) at the University of Chicago will host a 3-day workshop on June 27-29 to explore uses of the DES DR1 for near field cosmology studies in conjunction with other DECam public data. Furthermore, the workshop will explore possible synergies with other spectroscopic surveys as well as Gaia DR2.

The 3-day workshop will include presentations and discussion on the first two days and a hack day on the last day. Talks on ideas or science results related to DES/DECam data, or synergies with other programs are encouraged. Abstracts can be submitted at registration. On the hack day, we will hack on DES DR1 data and associated data sets (like Gaia DR2) in a collaborative format. Specific hack topics can be submitted at registration.

Topics in this workshop includes:
  • Dark Matter and Near-Field Cosmology
  • Milky Way satellite galaxies - satellites of satellites, planes of satellites, dark matter particle physics
  • Stellar streams and halo overdensities -- constraints on Milky Way dark matter halo
  • First stars; Reionization; Chemical Evolution -- r-process variation
  • Time series photometry and RR Lyrae stars -- distant structure tracers
  • Local Group and Nearby Galaxies -- Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies
  • Synergy with Gaia DR2 and other spectroscopic programs/surveys.
  • Synergy with other DECam surveys and/or other imaging surveys.

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Related Links:
KICP Members: Alex Drlica-Wagner; Andrey V. Kravtsov; Ting Li
Scientific projects: Dark Energy Survey (DES)

 
KICP Summer Institute: City of Tomorrow
July 29 - August 4, 2018 | Chicago, IL
Picture: KICP Summer Institute: City of Tomorrow
Mission
Our world is changing rapidly. What will tomorrow look like? As we strive to take care of this planet, we also look to the stars, to other planets. We explore the far reaches of space for our curiosity, for discovery - also, possibly for another home for our species. How would we provide energy for a civilization on another planet? How do we approach ethics and justice in this new civilization? This year, teams of student researchers will design unique proposals for energy infrastructure on three kinds of extraterrestrial systems - a planet, a moon, and a space ship.
Activities and Events
- Study and design technologies for the generation and distribution of power for a civilization.
- Perform a Model United Nations and discuss the social impacts of resource allocation.
- Visit Adler Planetarium and Museum of Science and Industry for research
- Work alongside physicists, geophysicists, and astrophysicists.
- Experience the University of Chicago campus.
Facilitators and Organizers
- Faculty and Students from University of Chicago Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics (KICP)
- Office of Special Programs

 
Midwest LIGO meeting
September 20, 2018 | 9:00 AM | ERC 401
Picture: Midwest LIGO meeting
Organizers: Reed C. Essick, Daniel E. Holz

Hi everyone,

KICP will be hosting a Midwest LIGO meeting all day in ERC 401. Although most of the workshop will be for LIGO members, if you have any burning questions about LIGO/GW astrophysics please feel free to swing by and join us during the breaks (12:30-1:30pm, 3:30-4pm, or after 6pm).

cheers
-- Reed and Daniel

Related Links:
KICP Members: Reed C. Essick; Daniel E. Holz
Scientific projects: Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)

 
Workshop: The Future of H0: Crisis or Concordance?
October 4 - 5, 2018 | Chicago, Il
Picture: Workshop: The Future of H0: Crisis or Concordance?
Website

Organizers: Bradford A. Benson, John E. Carlstrom, Wendy L. Freedman, Joshua A. Frieman, Daniel E. Holz, Daniel M. Scolnic, Kimmy (Wai Ling) Wu

Just in the last two years, we have seen the final Planck data release, measurements of the local value of the Hubble constant nearing two percent, the first standard siren measurement, and new strong lens time delay cosmological measurements. Even with a number of re-analyses and systematic checks on these various analyses, tension of the local Ho measurements and the CMB inferred Ho value remains, and excitement continues to increase amongst cosmologists regarding the source of tension. In this workshop, we are asking what's next for all these experiments and analyses. This workshop will be focused on analyses coming out in the next year or two, looking at what we can expect before the next generation of experiments come online. We want to hear about new ideas to push down at systematic uncertainties in current analyses, what lingering issues remain unresolved and what can be done to solve them. This workshop will be a unique chance for scientists who work on different probes to think together about what can be done to better understand what is driving the tension and how the next round of analyses can address various concerns.

Potential Topics:
  • Cosmic Microwave Background
  • Local Distance Ladder
  • Standard Sirens
  • Tension Analysis
  • Strong Lensing
  • Baryon Acoustic Oscillations
  • Hubble bubble
  • Peculiar Velocities
  • GAIA
  • Theory

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Related Links:
KICP Members: Bradford A. Benson; John E. Carlstrom; Wendy L. Freedman; Joshua A. Frieman; Daniel E. Holz; Daniel M. Scolnic; Kimmy (Wai Ling) Wu

 
Workshop: The Magnificent CEvNS
November 2 - 3, 2018 | Chicago, IL
Picture: Workshop: The Magnificent CEvNS
Website

Organizers: Juan I. Collar, Grayson Rich

With the observation of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS, pronounced "sevens") now realized, there is a groundswell of efforts in and around the process. This workshop will bring together theorists, phenomenologists, and experimentalists from the CEvNS community with the goal of exploring upcoming experiments, the complementarity between them, and the broad range of physics questions that CEvNS can address. The current landscape of ongoing or potential CEvNS experiments will be surveyed, and discussion will be fostered about the physics topics that can be most powerfully or uniquely addressed by this process. By bringing together theory and experiment workers at this exciting moment, we hope to enrich the exchanges within the CEvNS community, with the goal of defining and guiding future common efforts that maximize the physics impact of this process.

The workshop will be co-hosted by the Enrico Fermi Institute (EFI) and the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics (KICP), and will take place on the University of Chicago campus at the newly renovated Physics Research Center (PRC), home of the EFI.
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Related Links:
KICP Members: Juan I. Collar; Grayson Rich