Grand Challenge Problems in Computational Astrophysics

Workshop III: Relativistic Astrophysics

May 2 - 6, 2005

Schedule and Presentations

Program Poster PDF

Pictures

Organizing Committee:

Richard Matzner, Chair (University of Texas at Austin)
Curt Cutler (University of Potsdam)
Michael Holst (University of California at San Diego)
Richard Klein (University of California at Berkeley/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)
Joseph Monaghan (Monash University, Australia)
Ewald Mueller (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics)
Tsvi Piran (Hebrew University)
Stuart Shapiro (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Scientific Background

Relativistic astrophysics presents a number of challenges: high relativistic factors, strong gravitational fields, uncertain equations of state, large dynamical range, solution in General Relativity of constrained hyperbolic systems. The complete description of the collimation of astrophysical jets is still being elucidated. Understanding the development of structure of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) and the effect of primordial gravitational radiation on microwave polarization remains an active topic. Predicting source dynamics and detected gravitational waveforms is important to understand hoped-for observations in the current generation of gravitational wave detectors, and essential to achieve design sensitivity in future space-based detectors. Additionally there are analytical questions of formalism in relativistic dynamics that are not completely resolved, but demand consideration also at the discrete level. And there are extensions of these concepts to modern field theory and string theory, such as the understanding of gravitational structure in spacetimes constituting more than four dimensions; these are sufficiently complex that only a computational approach is feasible.

This workshop will be aimed at illuminating the computational techniques which have been successfully employed to investigate this range of problems, to identify what improvements might be made in those techniques, and to discuss and implement new approaches to remaining open questions in physics and astrophysics.

Areas to be considered include:

• relativistic jets
• relativistic shocks
• black hole astrophysics
• gravitational collapse
• neutron star mergers
• black hole mergers
• gravitational waves: timing and spectroscopy
• challenges of LIGO, LISA
• cosmology, cosmic background radiation polarization
• gamma-ray bursters
• formulations of Einstein's field equations for numerical relativity
• numerical studies of higher dimensional black holes

Speakers

Contact Us:

Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM)
Attn: PCAWS3
460 Portola Plaza
Los Angeles CA 90095-7121
Phone: 310 825-4755
Fax: 310 825-4756
Email: ipam@ucla.edu
Website: http://www.ipam.ucla.edu/programs/pcaws3/