The 2008 Fireworks Meeting: First Results from Wide-Field Surveys

The Weizmann Institute

December 14-21, 2008



We will host the 2008 Fireworks workshop at the Weizmann Institute (Israel) on Dec. 14-21, 2008. The idea is to present and discuss the first results from (at least) two new wide-field variability surveys: the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF; PI Kulkarni) and skymapper (PI Schmidt), which are planned to be online before the end of this year (PTF) or early 2009 (skymapper). In parallel, we would like to bring theorists which are interested in explosive or other transient phenomena to discuss implications of these first results, and/or expectations, predictions, and guidance for the operations of these and other future surveys. The coming online of these surveys is the trigger for this meeting, but discussions and work can of course extend to every aspect that the attendants find appealing.



The meeting poster
Final Program
Campus Map

Program:

The meeting is designed to allow plenty of time for interaction, discussions (both moderated and free) and collaborative work. Each day has an overall theme. The morning will be dedicated to talks, one longer key talk with a review/pedagogical pitch, followed by several (up to 4) shorter (20 min) "bullet" talks about specific recent results of interest. It is not expected that every participant will give a talk. After lunch, we will hold a moderated general discussion focused on each day's theme and related aspects that came up during the talks, followed by optional follow-up discussions in smaller groups.

Full science days are Sunday Dec. 14 till Friday Dec. 19. The last weekend (Dec. 20-21) is free (we do not have structured science activities) but office space and lodging remain available.

Tentative Agenda
Day Theme Key talk Bullet talks
Sunday Dec. 14 Sub-SN events Kulkarni Bildsten, Kasliwal, ...
Monday Dec. 15 Pair Instability SNe Barkat Quimby, Gal-Yam, ...
Tuesday Dec. 16 The Fate of Massive Stars Massive star evolution: Langer Gal-Yam, Li, ...
    Explosion Overview: Janka  
Wednesday Dec. 17 Shock Breakout events Waxman Justham, Gezari, Rabinak ...
Thursday Dec. 18 Type Ia SNe Observations: Sullivan Maoz, Howell
    Theory: Nomoto+Mazzali  
Friday Dec. 19 Survey Expectations, radio and non-EM sources Non-SN Transients: Podsiadlowski Ofek, ...
       
Floating Afternoon mini-session Tidal Disruption Events Overview: Gezari Loeb
Floating Afternoon mini-session GRBs - what next Moderator: Mazzali Gal-Yam, Kulkarni, Nakar, Fox, Frail, Piran, Sari, Schmidt ...

Participants:

Bhalerao, Varun
Bildsten, Lars
Della Valle, Massimo
Fitzpatrick, Ben
Gal-Yam, Avishay
Gezari, Suvi
Guetta, Dafne
Howell, Andrew
Janka, Thomas
Justham, Stephen
Kasen, Dan
Kasliwal, Mansi
Kneib, Jean-Paul
Kulkarni, Shri
Li, Weidong
Loeb, Avi
MacFadyen, Andrew
Mannucci, Filippo
Maoz, Dan
Maurer, Immanuel
Mazzali, Paolo
Nakar, Ehud
Nelemans, Gijs
Ofek, Eran
Pian, Elena
Piran, Tsvi
Podsiadlowski, Philipp
Quimby, Robert
Roepke, Fritz
Rossi, Elena
Sari, Re'em
Schmidt, Brian
Sullivan, Mark
Waxman, Eli

Lodging Options:

There are two main options on campus:
San Martin House: $55 single/$65 double (including breakfast)
The Weizmann Youth Village: $47 single/$57 double (breakfast provided offsite)

We also have overflow lodging at the Hebrew University Agriculture Faculty Guest House, which is right outside our campus, 5 minute walk from the conference: NIS 240 single/ NIS 280 double (breakfast provided offsite) (approx. $63/$73, depending on the $/NIS exchange rate).

Students and postdocs supported by the conference are guarnateed lodging at the Weizmann Youth Village. Lodging may be in single or double rooms based on availability and requests.

SOC:

Avishay Gal-Yam
Shri Kulkarni
Paolo Mazzali
Kenichi Nomoto
Phillip Podsiadlowski
Brian Schmidt

Sponsors:

The Benoziyo Center for Astrophysics
The Albert Einstein Minerva Center for Theoretical Physics


Constructed: October 2008, by: Avishay Gal-Yam , E-Mail: email