Title: A multi-observatory X-ray approach to characterize heavily obscured AGNs According to the different models of Cosmic X-ray Background (CXB), the diffuse X-ray emission observed in the 1 to ~200-300 keV band, is mainly caused by accreting supermassive black holes, the so-called active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). Particularly, at the peak of the CXB (~30 keV) … Continue reading "CRA Seminar: Dr. Stefano Marchesi (Clemson University)"
Monte Carlo Simulation and Balloon-Borne Observation of Energetic Radiations and Electromagnetic Fields from Thunderstorms and Lightning Mahdi Bagheri Space Science Center and Physics Department, University of New Hampshire Abstract: Lightning is one of the most energetic geophysical phenomena, producing the brightest light and loudest sound commonly occurring on Earth. Because of its high … Continue reading "CRA Seminar: Mahdi Bagheri (University of New Hampshire)"
Title: The Evolving X-ray Spectrum of Active Galactic Nuclei Abstract: The cosmic X-ray background (XRB) spectrum and active galaxy number counts encode essential information about the spectral evolution of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and have been successfully modeled by XRB synthesis models for many years. Recent measurements of the 8–24 keV AGN number counts by … Continue reading "CRA Cosmic Coffee: Mathilda Avirett-Mackenzie"
Title: How Black Holes Dine above the Eddington "Limit" without Overeating or Excessive Belching Abstract The study of super-Eddington accretion is essential to our understanding of the growth of super-massive black holes in the early universe, the accretion of tidally disrupted stars, and the nature of ultraluminous X-ray sources. Unfortunately, this mode of accretion is … Continue reading "CRA seminar: Prof. Shane Davis (University of Virginia)"
Probing neutron star physics with gravitational wave detections The recent detection of the binary neutron star merger event (GW170817) has marked the beginning of multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational waves. In this talk I will briefly review current findings associated with GW170817 and introduce new opportunities from future detections. In the first part, I will explain … Continue reading "CRA Seminar: Prof. Huan Yang (Perimeter Institute)"
https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/juan-calderon-bustillo Title: Exploring the strong field phenomena of black holes Abstract: At the event horizon of a black hole, gravity reaches its most extreme behaviour. Studying the dynamics of event horizons is key to understand gravity in is ultra-strong field regime and investigate the most fundamental properties of black holes. Black hole collisions provide a … Continue reading "CRA Seminar: Dr. Juan Calderon Bustillo (Monash University)"
Observational tests of general relativity with black hole inspiral, coalescence, and ringdown Prof. Lee Samuel Finn (Penn State University) Website: https://www.phys.psu.edu/people/lsf5 Abstract: As far as it has been tested, general relativity “works”; however, tests of general relativity are spotty in their coverage and - especially in the dynamical regime - leave much to be desired … Continue reading "CRA Seminar: Lee Samuel Finn (Penn State University)"
Title: “I Like to Myself Believe That Planet 5 Turns Slowly” Abstract: Within the general framework of the core-nucleated accretion theory of giant planet formation, the conglomeration of massive gaseous envelopes is facilitated by a transient period of rapid accumulation of nebular material. While the concurrent build-up of angular momentum is expected to leave newly … Continue reading "CRA seminar: Prof. Konstantin Batygin (Caltech)"
Title: Where Do Population III Stars Form? Abstract: We perform a cosmological simulation with a comoving volume of 1 Mpc^3 to study the birth-places of Population III stars, using the adaptive mesh refinement code Enzo. We investigate the distribution of host halo masses and its relationship to the Lyman-Werner background intensity. In our sample … Continue reading "CRA Cosmic Coffee: Danielle Skinner"
Title: Marginally Trapped Surfaces in Black Hole Mergers Abstract: For numerical simulations of black hole mergers, typically the apparent horizon that forms is of primary interest and can be used to calculate the mass and angular momentum of the merger remnant. In a generic binary black hole evolution however, the apparent horizon is only one … Continue reading "CRA Cosmic Coffee: Chris Evans"
