2022
A&A Colloquium: Vikram Dwarkadas (University of Chicago)
3:30–4:30 pm ERC 161 - Zoom link, also available. Please contact Sheree Ruth @sruth@uchicago.edu
Winds, Bubbles, Disks and Binaries: Multi-wavelength Investigations of Stripped-Envelope Supernovae
Core-collapse supernovae (SNe) arise from massive stars. These stars lose mass throughout their evolution, in the form of winds and outbursts. The lost mass can modify the medium around the stars. When the star explodes as a SN, the resulting shock wave expands in this circumstellar medium pre-sculpted by the progenitor, rather than in the interstellar medium. The evolution of the shock wave, and the resulting radiative signatures, depend on the nature and density profile of this medium.
We can turn this to our advantage. Interpretation of the emission from the SN can reveal details about the medium into which it is expanding. In recent years, it has become clear that stars, especially towards the end of their lives, often lose substantially more mass, and modify the circumstellar medium in diverse ways.
In this talk we will investigate the circumstellar medium around SNe, especially stripped-envelope SNe, which have lost their H, and sometimes He, envelopes. Using a variety of tools, including numerical simulations, high resolution X-ray spectra, and multi-wavelength observations of SNe at radio, optical, IR and X-ray wavelengths, we study the emission from these SNe. The results show how a detailed, and yet more complicated, picture has begun to emerge regarding stellar mass-loss leading towards core-collapse, the surroundings of massive stars, and the evolution of SNe within the circumstellar medium.
PhD Thesis Defense: Rostom Mbarek
10:30–11:30 am ERC 401
Rostom Mbarek “Particle Acceleration, Propagation, and Detection: A Journey from the Kinetic Structure of Plasma Physics to Particle Transport on Cosmic Scales”
Astro Tuesday: Samantha Usman and Taylor Hoyt
12:00–1:00 pm ERC 401
Samantha Usman “Classifying the Progenitor of the Stellar Stream 300S” and Taylor Hoyt “Recalibrating the Tip of the Red Giant Branch Distance Scale: Implications for the Hubble Constant”
Kathryn Downey Honors Thesis Presentation
11:30 am–12:00 pm ERC 576
Kathryn Downey “Calculating Star Formation Rates and Stellar Masses Through Domain Adaptation Neural Networks”
Supervisor: Dr. Brian Nord
PhD Thesis Defense: Huanqing Chen
11:00 am–12:00 pm ERC 401
Huanqing Chen “Probing Cosmic Reionization with Quasar Proximity Zones”
PhD Advisor: Nick Gnedin
Tristan Bachmann Honors Thesis Presentation
10:30–11:00 am ERC 576
Tristan Bachmann “Effective Dissipation in Collisionless Gravitating Systems”
Supervisor: Prof. Robert Rosner
Will Cerny Honors Thesis Presentation
2:00–2:30 pm ERC 576
Will Cerny “A Guided Search for Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxy Satellites of the Milky Way Along RR Lyrae Sightlines”
Supervisor: Prof. Alex Drlica-Wagner
Viraj Manwadkar Honors Thesis Presentation
1:30–2:00 pm ERC 576
Viraj Manwadkar “Modeling the Chemical Abundances of Dwarf Galaxies”
Supervisor: Prof. Andrey Kravtsov
Cole Meldorf Honors Thesis Presentation
1:00–1:30 pm ERC 576
Cole Meldorf “Three and Four Dimensional Geometric Analyses of Causal Regions During Inflation”
Supervisor: Prof. Craig Hogan
KICP seminar: Nicolas Fernandez (UIUC)
12:00–1:00 pm ERC 401
Nicolas Fernandez (UIUC) “Freeze-in, glaciation, and UV sensitivity from light mediators”