########################################## Table of Contents ########################################### 1. Conferences 1.1. 22nd Midwest Relativity Meeting / Compact Objects Meeting 1.2. Gravitational-Wave Astrophysics at COSPAR-2014, Moscow 1.3. Sant Cugat Forum on Astrophysics. 2014 Session on "Gravitational Wave Astrophysics" 1.4. Multi-Messengers from Core-Collapse Supernovae (MMCOCOS) 2. Jobs 2.1. Postdoctoral Position in Fluid Mechanics 2.2. Postdoc position in theoretical and computational physics at the University of Trento 2.3. Postdoc at University of Zululand 2.4. PhD scholarships in Mathematical or Computational Relativity at Otago 3. News 3.1. SimulationTools for Mathematica 3.2. The Daniel Chalonge Medal 2013 ============================================== 1. Conferenes ============================================== 1.1. 22nd Midwest Relativity Meeting / Compact Objects Meeting --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2013/08/20/22nd-midwest-relativity-meeting-comp... Starting: 2013-10-25 to 2013-10-27 Location: Milwaukee, WI, USA Additional Information: http://www.gravity.phys.uwm.edu/conferences/mwrm2013/ Contact: mwrmco-loc[AT]gravity.phys.uwm.edu The 22nd Midwest Relativity Meeting will be held Friday and Saturday, October 25 and 26, 2013 at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and will be followed by a Compact Objects meeting on Sunday October 27. Astrophysical talks on compact objects in the Relativity Meeting will be scheduled for Saturday to give a natural overlap. Each participant in the meetings may present a talk of approximately 10-15 minutes, depending on the total number of talks, We intend the Midwest Relativity Meeting to cover a broad range of topics in gravitation physics, including classical and quantum gravity, numerical relativity, relativistic astrophysics, cosmology, gravitational waves and experimental gravity. The third day of science talks will focus on a wider range of topics relating to the astrophysics of compact objects: white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes; we encourage submissions of observational and theoretical talks by students, postdocs, and faculty. As this is a regional meeting, many of the participants will be from the United States Midwest and Canada, but researchers and students from other areas are also welcome. A conference website will be open by early September, at which time further details, registration information and abstract submission will be available at http://www.gravity.phys.uwm.edu/conferences/mwrm2013/index.html. There is no conference fee. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.2. Gravitational-Wave Astrophysics at COSPAR-2014, Moscow --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2013/08/21/gravitational-wave-astrophysics-at-c... Starting: 2014-08-02 to 2014-08-10 Location: Moscow, Russia Additional Information: https://www.cospar-assembly.org Contact: imandel[AT]star.sr.bham.ac.uk Dear colleagues: We would like to bring to your attention a meeting on Gravitational-wave Astrophysics at the next COSPAR assembly. The COSPAR assembly itself is scheduled for August 2-10, 2014, in Moscow, Russia. We don't yet know the exact dates of the GW event [E1.20], but it will take place over ~3 days during this time. Here is a brief event description: Gravitational-wave astronomy will provide us with a new probe of the Universe and enable us to answer deep questions about astrophysics and strong-field general relativity. As the first direct detections of gravitational waves from astrophysical sources are imminent, this is a perfect time to take stock of the available techniques for analyzing signals from gravitational-wave detectors across multiple frequency bands, including ground-based high-frequency detectors such as LIGO and Virgo, proposed space-borne low-frequency detectors such as LISA, and ultra-low frequency data from pulsar timing arrays. We will focus on the problems of inference from the data and the key issues that must be resolved to maximize the scientific payoff of gravitational waves, including multimessenger observations, for astrophysics and tests of general relativity. We invite participants from the LIGO/Virgo/GEO/KAGRA/INDIGO, LISA, and PTA communities, as well as participation from those interested i n binary astrophysics, massive black holes, measurements of gravitational-wave signatures in CMB polarization, tests of gravitation, and astrostatistics. Abstract submission has just opened, and will close on February 14, 2014. We look forward to seeing you in Moscow! Your Scientific Organizing Committee: Will Farr (deputy chair), Jonathan Gair, Ilya Mandel (chair), Cole Miller, Alberto Sesana +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.3. Sant Cugat Forum on Astrophysics. 2014 Session on "Gravitational Wave Astrophysics" --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/?p=8615 Starting: 2014-04-22 to 2014-04-25 Location: Sant Cugat, Barcelona, Spain Additional Information: http://www.ice.csic.es/research/forum/2014.html Contact: sopuerta[AT]ieec.uab.es We are glad to announce the 2014 edition of the Sant Cugat Forum on Astrophysics, devoted to Gravitational Wave Astrophysics. This Workshop will be the third meeting this biennial series and will be held in Sant Cugat (near Barcelona), from April 22nd to April 25th, 2014. Below you will find more information about the Sant Cugat Forum on Astrophysics. The motivation for this meeting is the incremental progress made in different major efforts to use gravitational waves (GWs) for Astronomy: The new generation of advanced ground-based GW observatories (LIGO, VIRGO, KAGRA) is going to come online soon, and is expected to provide the first detections; on the other hand, we are entering a crucial moment for the European-led project eLISA for a space-based detector; in addition, pulsar timing arrays are approaching detection sensitivities. Then, it is an excellent moment to bring together experts on the different aspects of Astrophysics related to GW detection, from the mechanisms for source formation (including event rate estimations) to the impact that the observations may have on the different branches of Astrophysics, including the role of data analysis developments and source modelling techniques. The workshop will consists in a series of plenary talks plus contributed talks, with no more than hundred participants. The list of plenary speaker will be announced soon. One of the outcomes of these meetings is a Springer monograph where the contributions from participants would become a state-of-the-art summary of the workshop topic, Gravitational Wave Astrophysics for the 2014 edition. The web registration for the 2014 Session of the Sant Cugat Forum on "Gravitational Wave Astrophysics" is open at the conference website http://www.ice.csic.es/research/forum/2014.html Registration fees: 300 Euros up to February 28th, 2014 (300 Euros at the Registration Desk) The registration fee will cover: Access to the workshop & workshop materials, a copy of the Session Book (to be sent directly to the delegate’ address), welcome cocktail, workshop dinner, and coffee breaks. Participants who would like to contribute a talk in the parallel sessions can apply by submitting a title and abstract in the registration website. The deadline for abstract submission is 15 June 2013. Participants will be informed shortly afterwards whether their contribution has been accepted. Sant Cugat Forum Award for Young Scientists: From all contributed works by graduate scientists or postdoctoral fellows within 2 years of their PhD that are willing to apply for the award, the Scientific Organizing Committee will choose the Best Work by a Young Scientist. There will be a symbolic cash amount (TBD), an Award certificate, and a token of recognition related to Sant Cugat (typically a local artist painting). If you would like to be consider for the Award, there will be a place to note so in your abstract submission. International Scientific Organizing Committee: Nils Andersson (University of Southampton, UK) Pierre Binetruy (APC-Paris, France) Monica Colpi (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy) Enrique Garcia-Berro (Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain) Philippe Jetzer (University of Zurich, Switzerland) Kostas Kokkotas (University of Tuebingen, Germany) Pablo Laguna (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA) Alicia M. Sintes (Universitat de les Illes Balears, Spain) Carlos F. Sopuerta (IEEC-CSIC, Spain) Alberto Vecchio (University of Birmingham, UK) Local Organizing Committee: Carlos F. Sopuerta (IEEC-CSIC, chair) Daniel Santos (IEEC-CSIC) Ivan LLoro (IEEC-CSIC) Anna Bertolín (IEEC-CSIC) Pilar Montes (IEEC-CSIC) Diego F. Torres (ICREA & IEEC-CSIC, Sant Cugat Forum) The Sant Cugat Forum on Astrophysics is a framework designed to host international meetings of scientists directed to analyze violent phenomena in the Universe. Together with the nice environment of the village of Sant Cugat, the Forum provides a stimulating environment for research. We look forward to seeing you in Sant Cugat. Best regards, Carlos F. Sopuerta on behalf of the Local Organizing Committee Institute of Space Sciences (IEEC-CSIC) ---------- MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SANT CUGAT FORUM ON ASTROPHYSICS (http://www.ice.csic.es/research/forum) The Sant Cugat Forum on Astrophysics is a framework (contacts, infrastructure, format, make) to host international workshop-like meetings in a biennial basis. It was founded on April 2009 by Prof. Diego Torres (IEEC-CSIC and ICREA) motivated by the combination of the nice environment of the village together with its sensitivity to science and technology. In front of the venue there is the best preserved benedictine monastery, which is inside the village’s nucleus with 60% of the streets begin pedestrian ones. There is a 4 star hotel with affordable prices 300 meters from the meeting room (there are several other hotels nearby). There is also the possibility to be accommodated in Barcelona downtown since there are trains every 5-10 minutes going to and from Plaza Catalunya (at the very center of Barcelona) that take 25 minutes. The two previous meetings were: * April 2010: Workshop on The High-Energy Emission from Pulsars and their Systems. * April 2012: Workshop on Cosmic-ray induced phenomenology in star-forming environments. This series of meeting have the following International Advisory Committee: Prof. X. Barcons (IFCA, Spain) Prof. C. Cesarsky (CEA, France) Prof. K.S. Cheng (Hong Kong, China) Prof. M. Longair (Cambridge U., UK) Prof. O. Reimer (Innsbruck U., Austria) Prof. S. Sarkar (Oxford U. & Bohr Institute, Denmark) In the years in between workshops there is at least one relatively important outreach event. This year there is an itinerant exhibition on the evolution of the Universe, and all the 22 Sant Cugat schools will visit it. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.4. Multi-Messengers from Core-Collapse Supernovae (MMCOCOS) --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2013/08/29/multi-messengers-from-core-collapse-... Starting: 2013-12-02 to 2013-12-06 Location: Fukuoka, Japan Additional Information: http://www.cis.fukuoka-u.ac.jp/~kkotake/sn_MM13.html Contact: kkotake[AT]fukuoka-u.ac.jp The aim of the workshop is to set an opportunity for specialists around the world who are now touching to 3D, general relativistic, Boltzmann neutrino transport to meet together and have exciting discussions with world-leading observers (including KAGRA, Super-Kamiokande, Subaru, Suzaku, etc) and their data-analyst on the SN multi messengers produced deep inside the central core. Such an exciting encounter that is intended to bridge theory and observation, will provide wonderful opportunities to start a future collaboration, only by which a great progress will be brought about on our understanding of time-honored puzzles about supernova mechanisms. Topics: - Explosion theory of core-collapse supernovae - How to detect neutrinos and gravitational waves from next nearby supernova event and what we can learn from them ? - Nucleosynthesis - Strategy toward multi-messenger astronomy of compact objects - Roles of magnetic fields - Weak interactions and equations of state for dense matter - Supernova Remnants - Efficient supercomputing algorithms for stellar core-collapse simulations Tentative Invited Speakers (* to be confirmed): M. Ando (U Tokyo) S. Couch (U Chicago) K. Hayama (Osaka-city U) S. Horiuchi (UCI) S. Katsuda (RIKEN) J. Kneller (NC state) Y. Koshio (U Okayama) Y. Masada (U Kobe) B. Messer (ORNL) K. Nakazato (TUS) M. Obergaulinger (U Valencia) C. Ott (Caltech) G. Shen (TU Darmstadt) F. Salemi (AEI)* T. Takiwaki (NAOJ) M. Tanaka (NAOJ) M. Vagins (IPMU) S. Wanajo (NAOJ) S. Yamada (Waseda U) Scientific Organizers: K. Sato (NINS), S. Yamada (Waseda U), Kohsuke Sumiyoshi (Numazu College),Tomoya Takiwaki (NAOJ),Yudai Suwa (YITP), Takami Kuroda (Basel U), Kei Kotake (Fukuoka U: co-ordinator) Contact: kkotake [at] fukuoka-u.ac.jp Supported by Grants-in-Aid for the Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan (Nos. 23540323, 23340069, and 24244036) and by HPCI Strategic Program of Japanese MEXT. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ============================================== 2. Jobs ============================================== 2.1. Postdoctoral Position in Fluid Mechanics ------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/?p=8538 Deadline: 2013-10-01 Location: Haifa, Israel Additional Information: http://www1.technion.ac.il/en Contact: postdoc[AT]tx.technion.ac.il Field: fluid dynamics Contacts: (1) Professor Alex Oron; Address: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000 ISRAEL (2) Professor Yehuda Agnon, Address: Department of Civil Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000 ISRAEL Job description: This theoretical (analytical/numerical) research will be focused on modeling in the field of viscous flow in the presence of free surfaces including application to thermoacoustics. The position is for 2 years available from October 1, 2013. Prerequisite: PhD in Mechanical or Chemical Engineering, Applied Mathematics or Physics with an emphasis on Fluid Mechanics. Required language: English in a good level of speaking, writing, reading, comprehension and communication. Please submit curriculum vitae, transcripts (grades), degree certificate (s), a list of at least three references by e-mail to postdoc[AT]tx.technion.ac.il To be eligible the successful applicants should have less than 4 years of research experience, after PhD. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2.2. Postdoc position in theoretical and computational physics at the University of Trento ------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2013/08/04/postdoc-position-in-theoretical-and-... Deadline: 2013-09-09 Location: Trento, Italy Additional Information: http://www.unitn.it/en/ateneo/bando/30860/department-of-physics-call-for-the... Contact: bruno.giacomazzo[AT]jila.colorado.edu The laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Physics at the University of Trento (Italy) is seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher to join one of the ongoing activities on: Theory of fundamental interactions (Numerical Relativity; Relativistic theories of gravitation; Astroparticle physics; Phenomenology and collider physics), Nuclear and subnuclear physics (QCD, hadrons and parton dynamics; few-and many-body systems), Physics of Matter (Quantum gases; Physics of biomolecular systems). The position is for one year (starting no later than December 2nd 2013) and it is renewable for another year (subject to funds availability). The deadline for application is September 9th 2013. Applicants should have a PhD in an area pertinent to the research fields listed above. Application and required documents: 1) Completed application form to be downloaded at http://www.unitn.it/en/ateneo/bando/30860/department-of-physics-call-for-the... 2) Research program 3) Curriculum vitae 4) List of publications 5) Letters of reference (max. 3) All documents must be sent 1. by fax to +39 0461 281699 or 2. by email to ateneo[AT]pec.unitn.it from an institutional email address Those using fax may send extended files containing only research program, curriculum vitae, list of publications in zipped form to ateneo[AT]pec.unitn.it. The reference letters must be sent from the reference persons directly to Marco.Traini[AT]unitn.it. The University of Trento is ranked among the top 5 universities in Italy (first for quality of research according to national rankings). The city of Trento is located on the Italian Dolomites and it is very well connected with several destinations in Italy and Europe. More information about the Physics Department of the University of Trento can be found at: http://www.unitn.it/en/dphys +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2.3. Postdoc at University of Zululand ------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2013/08/12/postdoc-at-university-of-zululand/ Deadline: 2013-08-15 Location: Kwa-Dlangezwa, South Africa Additional Information: http://www.uzulu.ac.za Contact: beeshama[AT]unizulu.ac.za Several postdoc fellowships valued at R240 000 per annum are available on a competitive basis across the University tenable for 2 years. I would be happy to act as mentor for anyone interested in working in relativity and cosmology. Details are available at the URL below, and interested persons can contact me for the application and referee forms. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2.4. PhD scholarships in Mathematical or Computational Relativity at Otago ------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2013/08/29/phd-scholarships-in-mathematical-or-... Deadline: 2014-02-28 Location: Dunedin, New Zealand Additional Information: http://www.otago.ac.nz/study/scholarships Contact: joergf[AT]maths.otago.ac.nz Applications are invited for 3-year PhD scholarships in Mathematical or Computational Relativity, at the University of Otago, New Zealand. The Relativity Group at the University of Otago consists of three permanent staff (F. Beyer, J. Frauendiener and J. Hennig) and, currently, two research fellows and three PhD students. The research interests include mathematical and numerical properties of the conformal field equations, gravitational waves, Fuchsian methods, cosmological space-times, exact solutions, transformation optics etc. A University of Otago Doctoral Scholarship provides an annual emolument of 25,000 NZD plus tuition fee waiver for 3 years. Applicants should have a First Class honours degree, Masters degree, or equivalent, specialising in an area of Applied Mathematics, preferably with some prior knowledge in General Relativity and numerical methods. The scholarships are available to both International and Domestic students. Interested? Then, you should apply for a University of Otago Postgraduate Scholarship by downloading the appropriate application form the Scholarships Office website at: Enquiries to: Prof. J. Frauendiener (Phone: +64 3 479 7770, Email: joergf[AT]maths.otago.ac.nz ) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ============================================== 3. News ============================================== 3.1. SimulationTools for Mathematica ------------------------------------------------------------ Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/?p=8574 Additional Information: http://simulationtools.org 15th August 2013 We present “SimulationTools for Mathematica” (http://simulationtools.org/), available as free software under the GNU General Public License. SimulationTools is a Mathematica application for analysing data from numerical simulations. It has a modular design applicable to general grid-based numerical simulations, and contains specific support for the Cactus code, with a focus on the field of Numerical Relativity and the Einstein Toolkit. SimulationTools provides a functional, programmable interface to simulation data. A highly-optimised HDF5 module can be used for reading HDF5 data from production simulations, including 1D, 2D and 3D grid data produced by the Carpet code. Simulation details such as filenames, file formats, and details of parallel I/O are hidden from the user. Numeric data with attached coordinate information is manipulated using new data types. Many useful new functions are defined on these types, and most built-in numerical Mathematica functions such as +, -, *, /, Abs, Sin, Log and Max can be used transparently. There is also support for testing numerical convergence, with automatic resampling onto a common grid if desired. SimulationTools has generic functionality useful for analysis of many types of data, as well as explicit support for codes including Cactus, Carpet, Llama, SimFactory and many other components of the Einstein Toolkit. It provides an overview of the state of a simulation, including speed, memory usage, and physics (e.g. trajectories and waveforms from a binary system). The design is modular, and support for output from other codes can be added. Specific functionality for Numerical Relativity is available. Gravitational waveforms can be read from simulations using natural function semantics, and the waveforms can be manipulated, for example converting between Psi4 and strain and extrapolation to infinity. An abstraction for “binary systems” provides a convenient interface to the trajectories of members of a binary system tracked with codes from the Einstein Toolkit. Support for reading black hole masses and spins is also included. Data in the Numerical Relativity Data Format (as used in the NINJA and NR-AR projects) can be read using the same functions that are used for normal simulation data. More details are available on the SimulationTools website (http://simulationtools.org), including an extensive feature summary, a list of capabilities and online documentation (http://simulationtools.org/Documentation/English/Tutorials/SimulationTools.h...). Tutorials and reference documentation are also available within the standard Mathematica documentation system. Code quality is maintained to a high standard with ~400 unit tests. SimulationTools has been in production use for over 5 years and has been used at several research institutions worldwide. We invite you to try out the code (http://simulationtools.org/download), join the mailing list (http://simulationtools.org/mailman/listinfo/users) and freely use SimulationTools for your research. -- Ian Hinder and Barry Wardell http://numrel.aei.mpg.de/people/hinder http://barrywardell.net/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3.2. The Daniel Chalonge Medal 2013 ------------------------------------------------------------ Announcement on Hyperspace@AEI: http://hyperspace.aei.mpg.de/2013/08/28/the-daniel-chalonge-medal-2013/ Additional Information: http://chalonge.obspm.fr Ecole Internationale d'Astrophysique Daniel Chalonge http://chalonge.obspm.fr The Daniel Chalonge Medal 2013 has been awarded to Professor Gerard F. GILMORE The International School of Astrophysics Daniel Chalonge has awarded the Daniel Chalonge Medal 2013 to Professor Gerard F. Gilmore from the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge UK and Fellow of the Royal Society, for his relevant results in the study of our galaxy and dwarf galaxies with great scientific impact on the nature of dark matter, a major subject at the center of the Chalonge School programmes. His successful effort in promoting and leading key missions and collaborations is also highlighted. Gerard Gilmore is lecturer from many years in several colloquia of the School and contributes to it with scientific research, projects and formation of physicists and astrophysicists over the world. The Chalonge medal is a totally surprise award. The medal was presented to Gerard Gilmore on the 26th July 2013 during the open session of the 17th Paris Cosmology Colloquium 2013 at the Paris Observatory in the presence of many distinguished scientists and very important personalities. Gerry Gilmore expressed “I can confirm the medal was a totally surprise to me”. We are then all happy the event successfully attained the objective. The Chalonge Medal is coined exclusively for the Chalonge School by the Hotel de la Monnaie de Paris (the French Mint) and only ten Chalonge medals have been awarded in the 22 year school history: 1991: Subramanyan Chandrasekhar, Nobel prize of physics. 1992: Bruno Pontecorvo. 2006: George Smoot, Nobel prize of physics. 2007: Carlos Frenk. 2008: Anthony Lasenby. 2008: Bernard Sadoulet. 2009: Peter Biermann. 2011: John Mather, Nobel prize of physics. 2012: Brian Schmidt, Nobel prize of Physics. 2013: Gerard F. Gilmore, Fellow of the Royal Society With the Chalonge Medal, the International School of Astrophysics Daniel Chalonge confirms its great appreciation to Professor Gerard Gilmore, his precision study of our galaxy and his contribution to the Chalonge School. Announcement, full history and photo gallery: http://chalonge.obspm.fr/Medal_Chalonge2013.pdf Gerard Gilmore's Lecture 2013 http://chalonge.obspm.fr/Paris13_Gilmore.pdf Photo Gallery http://chalonge.obspm.fr/album2013/index.html The Chalonge Archives http://chalonge.obspm.fr/Archives_Daniel_Chalonge.html The Chalonge School http://chalonge.obspm.fr With compliments and kind regards Norma G. Sanchez, Hector J. de Vega ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++