2022
KICP colloquium: Alex Drlica-Wagner (University of Chicago)
3:30–4:30 pm ERC 161
Alex Drlica-Wagner (University of Chicago) “Fundamental Physics from Observations of Faint Galaxies”
Astro Tuesday: Mandy Chen and Elena Pinetti
12:00–1:00 pm ERC 401
Mandy Chen “Spatially-resolved kinematics of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) in active halos” and Elena Pinetti “A new path for dark matter searches: cross-correlation between gamma rays and gravitational tracers of the matter distribution”
Zachariasen Memorial Lecture: Katherine Freese (University of Texas at Austin)
3:30–4:30 pm KPTC 106
Katherine Freese (University of Texas at Austin) “The Cosmic Cocktail: Three Parts Dark Matter”
Open group seminar: Ivanna Escala (Carnegie/Princeton)
2:00–2:30 pm ERC 517
Ivanna Escala (Carnegie/Princeton) “Andromeda as a Stepping Stone to the Local Volume: Chemodynamics of an Extragalactic Tidal Shell”
KICP seminar: Nick Kokron (Stanford University)
12:00–1:00 pm ERC 401
Nick Kokron (Stanford University) “Improving models of structure formation statistics by combining perturbation theory and simulations”
A&A Colloquium: Ke Zhang (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
3:30–4:30 pm ERC 161 - Zoom available - please contact lrebeles@oddjob.uchicago.edu
The ALMA’s View of Planet Formation
Understanding how planets form and evolve is essential for our searching of other habitable worlds across the Universe. Planets form inside the protoplanetary disks around young stars. These disks are analogs of our early Solar system at 4.6 billion years ago, providing precious windows for us to witness the formation of planets. Over the past few years, ALMA, the Atacama Large (sub)-millimeter Array, has been providing unprecedented resolution and sensitivity for us to study conditions inside proplanetary disks. One of the most remarkable discoveries is that substructures like gaps/rings appear to be prevalent in disks. It is therefore of great interest to characterize the physical/chemical properties at these gaps locations to test if they are carved by forming planets. I will talk about gas properties in five disks with prominent substructures at their gaps, with ~10 au ALMA resolution observations from part of the ALMA MAPS large program. I will also discuss the current debate about gas masses in protoplanetary disks and show that a combination of molecular tracers can improve the precision of mass measurements by 5-10x. Finally, I will talk about future synergy of ALMA and JWST observations to test large-scale volatile transportation in planet formation.
KICP seminar: Meredith Durbin (University of Washington)
12:00–1:00 pm ERC 401
Meredith Durbin (University of Washington) “Nailing the Near-IR Tip of the Red Giant Branch with HST: Status, Prospects, and Challenges”
KICP colloquium: Johanna Nagy (Washington University)
3:30–4:30 pm ERC 161
Johanna Nagy (Washington University) “Measuring CMB Polarization from the Stratosphere”
PhD Thesis Defense: Nora Bailey
2:00–3:00 pm ERC 401
Nora Bailey “Planet-Planet Interactions in Exoplanet Systems”