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.
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.
INPA Talks are archived here.
The INPA Committee currently consists of:
2025-26
Daniel Kodroff
Krystal Alfonso
Edmond Chaussidon
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INPA Seminar Speaker: Ralf Konietzka (Harvard) – Title: Fast Radio Burst Cosmology in IllustrisTNG: Forward Modeling Dispersion Measures to Constrain Baryonic Feedback
January 16 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Date: January 16, 2026
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Ralf Konietzka (Harvard)
Title: Fast Radio Burst Cosmology in IllustrisTNG: Forward Modeling Dispersion Measures to Constrain Baryonic Feedback
Abstract: The dispersion measures (DMs) of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) arise predominantly from free electrons in the large-scale structure of the Universe. The increasing number of FRB observations have started to empirically constrain the distribution of cosmic baryons, making it crucial to accurately forward model their propagation within cosmological simulations.
In this talk, I present a method for measuring FRB DMs in IllustrisTNG that continuously traces rays through the simulation while reconstructing all traversed line segments within the underlying Voronoi mesh. Leveraging this technique, we create over 20 publicly available DM catalogs, including a full-sky DM map observed from a Milky Way-like environment.
Our method addresses a problem in previous TNG-based studies, in which a sparse snapshot sampling in the path integral leads to a misestimation of the standard deviation and higher moments of the DM distribution p(DM|z) by over 50%.
Confronting our simulated FRB catalogs with recent observations from DSA-110, ASKAP, and CHIME, I quantify the distribution of baryons relative to the underlying matter, allowing us to place new constraints on the strength of baryonic feedback.
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.