Institute for Nuclear and Particle Astrophysics (INPA) at LBNL
The INPA Seminar weekly talks are on Fridays, starting at 12:00 pm, unless informed otherwise. The seminar talk starts with a brief presentation of the weekly scientific news. Typically, the talks conclude by 1:00 pm. The seminars are held in the Sessler Conference Room, located in Bldg. 50A- 5132.
The committee members are:
The seminar schedule for the Institute for Nuclear and Particle Astrophysics (INPA) is tentative and becomes final a few days before the Friday talk.
Please send all suggestions for future INPA talks and speakers to the INPA Committee.
To be added to the INPA News Mailing List, please contact Erica Hall.
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INPA Seminar Speaker: Greg Green ( MPIA)- Title: Milky Way Dust and Dynamics
October 25 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
INPA SEMINAR TALK
Date: October 25, 2024
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Greg Green ( MPIA)
Title: Milky Way Dust and Dynamics
Abstract: The gravitational potential of the Milky Way is generated by all of the matter both baryonic and dark. By mapping the potential, we can thus uncover the distribution of the unseen dark component of the Milky Way. Gaia has precisely measured 6D phase-space coordinates of over 30 million stars, dramatically expanding our knowledge of stellar kinematics in the Milky Way. Previous methods of recovering the gravitational potential from stellar kinematics have made use of highly simplified models, but the quality of the new phase-space data provided by Gaia demands new approaches that can more fully describe the richness of the data. I will discuss a new method, “Deep Potential,” which applies computational tools from Deep Learning in a physically principled way to solve the collisionless Boltzmann equation and recover the underlying gravitational potential.
Any work on the Milky Way inevitably runs into the problem of dust
extinction, and the recovery of the gravitational potential is no
exception. Despite the vital importance of interstellar dust to many
areas of astronomy, its composition remains highly uncertain. However,
low-resolution spectroscopy from Gaia is enabling a transformation of
our understanding of dust properties. The dust extinction curve,
typically characterized by R(V), depends on both the composition and
size distribution of dust grains. I will discuss the first all-sky 3D
map of dust R(V), based on 130 million stellar measurements. This map
not only allows more accurate extinction corrections, but also sheds
light on the chemical evolution of the interstellar medium.
Both of these areas of Milky Way research borrow tools from Deep
Learning – applied in physically motivated ways – and make extensive use
of Gaia data. I will discuss some lessons on the use of such tools, in
and beyond Milky Way research.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95016696011?pwd=Tk1XOW1Xd3RYRnlsc2tEYmRWZlVVZz09
Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
Passcode: 247722
INPA guests from campus can now come to the lab early on Fridays. The INPA Common Room (50-5026) is reserved for our guests from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Note that the seminars are now held in 50A-5132 to accommodate a more significant number of attendees.
CPTea Series (also known as INPA Tea Series)
The Physics Division CPTea Series invites you to an In-Person Tea Series 1st Friday of every month at 3:30 pm INPA Conference Room 50-5026.
Everyone is welcome to attend the open forum. Tea and light refreshments will be served.
INPA Common Room (50-5026)
Fridays
3:30 pm
Access to the Lab
For a shuttle pass, please email Erica Hall. The pass is only valid for the day of the seminar.