Extreme Gravity Workshop to be held at Montana State University; August 20-22, 2015.

Montana State University, Bozeman MT

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports a scientific workshop, to take place at Montana State University (MSU) in August 2015, to plan and prepare for the upcoming era of extreme gravity astrophysics. The workshop will discuss how to get the most out of the data we expect to obtain in the next few years from the NICER telescope, the Event Horizon telescope and the advanced LIGO/Virgo detectors. The format of the workshop will be relatively informal to encourage a collaborative atmosphere, in analogy to the one hosted in 2013 at MSU on gravitational wave tests of General Relativity. The workshop will have four focus sessions on neutron star observations and the equation of state, black hole shadows, gravitational wave astrophysics and experimental relativity. The workshop will take place on August 20 - 22, 2015 at the Alumni Foundation of Montana State University. Each day will be divided into two subset, each of which will cover a single topic, for a total of six topics. These will include neutron star astrophysics and observations, the neutron star equation of state, NICER astrophysics, gravitational wave astrophysics, the Event Horizon telescope, and experimental relativity with gravitational waves and with cosmology. The workshop is expected to be small (of order 50 people) so as to increase the participation of all attendees. A few overview talks will be planned for each day, where the discussion leader will summarize the most recent successes in each topic and present questions that still need to be addressed. The overviews will act as a catalyst for discussions and exchange of ideas.