Thu 06 Mar 11:00: 2025 Scott Lectures - Quantum science with atom-like systems in diamond
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Professor Mikhail Lukin, Harvard University
- Thursday 06 March 2025, 11:00-12:00
- Venue: Cluster Seminar Room, Ray Dolby Centre, Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, CB3 0US.
- Series: Scott Lectures; organiser: Leona Hope-Coles.
Wed 05 Mar 16:00: 2025 Scott Lectures - Exploring quantum computing frontier with programmable atom arrays Refreshments will be served after the lecture
Abstract not available
Refreshments will be served after the lecture
- Speaker: Professor Mikhail Lukin, Harvard University
- Wednesday 05 March 2025, 16:00-17:00
- Venue: Ray Dolby Auditorium, Ray Dolby Centre, Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, CB3 0US.
- Series: Scott Lectures; organiser: Leona Hope-Coles.
Mon 03 Mar 16:00: 2025 Scott Lectures - Lecture 1 New field of quantum science and engineering Drinks and nibbles will be served after the lecture
Abstract not available
Drinks and nibbles will be served after the lecture
- Speaker: Professor Mikhail Lukin, Harvard University
- Monday 03 March 2025, 16:00-17:00
- Venue: Ray Dolby Auditorium, Ray Dolby Centre, Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, CB3 0US.
- Series: Scott Lectures; organiser: Leona Hope-Coles.
Fri 07 Mar 13:00: Symmetries and topology of extremal horizons
We establish an intrinsic rigidity theorem for extremal horizons, showing that a compact cross-section of a rotating extremal horizon must admit a Killing vector field. This result holds for a wide class of matter theories, extending work by Dunajski and Lucietti in the vacuum case. In four-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell theory, it follows that any non-trivial cross-section must be given by the extremal Kerr-Newman family. We also discuss the implications for the near-horizon geometry and the topology of cross-sections. This talk is partly based on joint work with David Katona and James Lucietti.
- Speaker: Alex Colling, DAMTP
- Friday 07 March 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Potter room / https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/87235967698.
- Series: DAMTP Friday GR Seminar; organiser: Daniela Cors.
Mon 03 Mar 13:40: Strong lensing and stellar kinematics of cluster galaxies
As the most massive gravitationally bound structures in the Universe, galaxy clusters frequently act as strong gravitational lenses. Strong lensing (SL) enables us to reconstruct the total mass distribution of a cluster with extreme accuracy, providing insights into the physical properties of dark matter and its interplay with baryons. SL models are also crucial for studying magnified high-redshift sources and measuring cosmological parameters from observed time delays between lensed variable sources. However, the accuracy of SL models is limited by parametric degeneracy, which hinders the reconstruction of the mass distribution of cluster members. This degeneracy can be resolved using independent information from their stellar kinematics. After a general introduction to SL by galaxy clusters, I will present how we leveraged deep MUSE /VLT observations of SL clusters to build a large catalogue of accurate stellar velocity dispersion measurements of early-type member galaxies. These measurements serve as the foundation for calibrating new scaling relations that describe their structure in a set of highly accurate SL models and for comparisons with cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy clusters, aimed at testing the ΛCDM paradigm.
- Speaker: Giovanni Granata / University of Portsmouth
- Monday 03 March 2025, 13:40-14:05
- Venue: The Hoyle Lecture Theatre + Zoom .
- Series: Institute of Astronomy Seminars; organiser: .
Mon 03 Mar 13:15: Metal enrichment of a dusty star-forming galaxies at the EoR with JWST/INIRSpec IFS
With the recent discovery of quiescent galaxies at z>3, studying of dusty star-forming galaxies at high redshift became more vital than ever, as they are thought to be precursors of quiescent galaxies. However, until the launch of JWST , studying the rest-frame of optical emission of these sources at redshifts higher than 3 was out of reach of astronomers, often solely relying on the ALMA observations of their FIR emission lines. In this talk, I will present one of the first JWST /NIRSpec IFS data of a massive dusty star-forming galaxy at the Epoch of Reionisation. COS -3018, is a unique UV bright galaxy (LUV>2 L*) at z~6.8, previously only observed using ALMA ([CII]158 microns, [OIII] 88 microns), VLT X -Shooter (Lyman-alpha) and HST broadband photometry. Furthermore, this galaxy has a large amount of dust (log Mdust =10.7 Msol) and an excess of [OIII]88micron emission suggesting that this might be an AGN or has non-standard ISM conditions such as AGN . I will present deep high-resolution JWST /NIRSpec IFS observations of rest-frame UV and optical continuum and emission lines, in combination with deep ALMA [CII] and [OIII]88micron observations and NIR Cam photometry. Using the deep and unique NIR Spec IFS (PRISM+R2700) observations, I will show the ISM conditions in this unique galaxy: excitation conditions (extreme star formation or AGN ?), metallicity gradient, location of dust obscured (from ALMA high resolution observations) and unobscured star formation. Finally, I will answer the question: What is driving such an extreme production of dust in this galaxy and UV luminosity in this galaxy?
- Speaker: Jan Scholtz / IoA
- Monday 03 March 2025, 13:15-13:40
- Venue: The Hoyle Lecture Theatre + Zoom .
- Series: Institute of Astronomy Seminars; organiser: .
Mon 03 Mar 14:00: Exoplanets and the Road to the Radius Valley
The observed population of small, close-in exoplanets is bifurcated into two distinct types by the so-called ‘radius valley’. In this talk, I will discuss the atmospheric escape processes that may affect such planets and finally lead to the radius gap being carved out, specifically X-ray/EUV photoevaporation, core-powered mass loss, and boil-off. The latter process is an extreme mass loss mechanism that is triggered by protoplanetary disc dispersal and may have lasting impacts on the population of small exoplanets.
- Speaker: James Rogers (Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge)
- Monday 03 March 2025, 14:00-15:00
- Venue: MR14 DAMTP and online.
- Series: DAMTP Astrophysics Seminars; organiser: Loren E. Held.
Mon 19 May 15:00: Title to be confirmed
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Adrien La Posta (University of Oxford)
- Monday 19 May 2025, 15:00-16:00
- Venue: CMS, Pav. B, CTC Common Room (B1.19) [Potter Room].
- Series: Cosmology Lunch; organiser: Louis Legrand.
Wed 05 Mar 16:00: 2025 Scott Lectures - Lecture 2 Title tbc Refreshments will be served after the lecture
Abstract not available
Refreshments will be served after the lecture
- Speaker: Professor Mikhail Lukin, Harvard University
- Wednesday 05 March 2025, 16:00-17:00
- Venue: Ray Dolby Auditorium, Ray Dolby Centre, Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, CB3 0US.
- Series: Scott Lectures; organiser: Leona Hope-Coles.
Wed 14 May 16:00: Astrochemical Origins of Planetary Habitability
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Karin Öberg, Harvard University (Department of Astronomy)
- Wednesday 14 May 2025, 16:00-17:00
- Venue: East Seminar Room, Ray Dolby Centre.
- Series: LCLU Seminars; organiser: Selen Etingü.
Mon 03 Mar 13:00: Uplifting Massive Graphs from Minkowski to de Sitter
Identifying useful flat-space limits for cosmological correlators—where they can be expressed in terms of observables in Minkowski space—is nontrivial due to their scale-invariant nature. In this talk, I present a massive flat-space limit in which cosmological correlators, induced by the exchange of heavy fields, can be expressed in terms of massive Feynman graphs in flat space. As a phenomenological application, I apply this flat space limit to compute specific one-loop contributions from heavy fields to primordial non-Gaussianity.
- Speaker: Sadra Jazayeri (Imperial College)
- Monday 03 March 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: CMS, Pav. B, CTC Common Room (B1.19) [Potter Room].
- Series: Cosmology Lunch; organiser: Thomas Colas.
Thu 06 Mar 11:00: 2025 Scott Lectures - Lecture 3 Title tbc
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Professor Mikhail Lukin, Harvard University
- Thursday 06 March 2025, 11:00-12:00
- Venue: Ray Dolby Auditorium, Ray Dolby Centre, Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, CB3 0US.
- Series: Scott Lectures; organiser: Leona Hope-Coles.
Mon 03 Mar 16:00: 2025 Scott Lectures - Lecture 1 Title tbc Drinks and nibbles will be served after the lecture
Abstract not available
Drinks and nibbles will be served after the lecture
- Speaker: Professor Mikhail Lukin, Harvard University
- Monday 03 March 2025, 16:00-17:00
- Venue: Ray Dolby Auditorium, Ray Dolby Centre, Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, CB3 0US.
- Series: Scott Lectures; organiser: Leona Hope-Coles.
Fri 21 Mar 13:00: TBC
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Xavier Pritchard, Sussex
- Friday 21 March 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Potter room.
- Series: DAMTP Friday GR Seminar; organiser: Xi Tong.
Fri 14 Mar 13:00: TBC
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Zoe Wyatt, DAMTP
- Friday 14 March 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Potter room.
- Series: DAMTP Friday GR Seminar; organiser: Xi Tong.
Fri 07 Mar 13:00: TBC
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Alex Colling, DAMTP
- Friday 07 March 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Potter room.
- Series: DAMTP Friday GR Seminar; organiser: Xi Tong.
Wed 19 Feb 13:15: Stellar flybys in protoplanetary discs
Substructures in protoplanetary discs have long been hypothesised to act as sites of planetesimal formation, where dust particles can collide and grow to macroscopic sizes. In this talk, I will consider the substructures formed when a protoplanetary disc is perturbed by an unbound stellar companion (a stellar flyby). I will present the results of 3D hydrodynamical simulations of discs after a range of flyby encounters, and employ a novel particle tracking algorithm to study the fate of dust particles in the flyby-induced rings and spirals. Our results show that stellar flybys could trigger planetesimal formation in protoplanetary discs.
- Speaker: Vasundhara Prasad / IoA
- Wednesday 19 February 2025, 13:15-13:40
- Venue: The Hoyle Lecture Theatre + Zoom .
- Series: Institute of Astronomy Seminars; organiser: .
Tue 04 Mar 11:15: Cygnus X-3 in 2024: many giant radio flares!
Cygnus X-3 is a `high mass X-ray binary’, which was first detected in the early days of X-ray astronomy, in 1966. It is also seen in the radio and the infra-red (but not optically due to obscuration). The emission is due to accretion from the companion star onto the compact source, thought to be a Wolf-Rayet star and a black hole respectively. It occasionally shows giant fares, and has been monitored—approximately daily—for several years with the Arcminute Microkelvin Image (AMI) at Lord’s Bridge, SW of Cambridge. During 2022 and 2023 was placid, with little variation in its radio (or X-ray) emission, but in 2024 it showed five giant radio flares, brightening from a few mJy to > 10 Jy over a few days.
- Speaker: Prof. Dave Green (Cavendish Astrophysics)
- Tuesday 04 March 2025, 11:15-12:00
- Venue: Martin Ryle Seminar Room, Kavli Institute.
- Series: Hills Coffee Talks; organiser: Charles Walker.
Wed 19 Feb 13:40: Probing the early history of the Milky Way through ancient carbon-rich stars
The oldest, most metal-poor stars we find in the Milky Way today were born in pristine environments in the early Universe. These local, ancient stars contain unique clues about the First Stars and the early formation and evolution of our Galaxy. At low metallicity, many stars have been found to be enhanced in carbon, coming in two main types: some contain the fingerprints of the First Stars and others have experienced binary interaction with an evolved companion. I recently built a homogeneous sample of C-rich metal-poor stars using the Gaia XP spectra, employing a neural network and a dedicated training sample. I will present this recent paper and discuss how the change in frequency of C-rich stars with Galactic environment relates to globular clusters and clustered star formation in the early Universe.
- Speaker: Anke Ardern-Arentsen / IoA
- Wednesday 19 February 2025, 13:40-14:05
- Venue: The Hoyle Lecture Theatre + Zoom .
- Series: Institute of Astronomy Seminars; organiser: Xander Byrne.
Thu 20 Mar 16:00: Exoplanet Clouds and Chemistry: A WASP-17b case study
In the short time since the start of JWST ’s science operations, it has caused a paradigm shift in the information and understanding of giant planet atmospheres. The spectroscopic IR capabilities have revealed absorption from H2O , CO2, and CO with exquisite precision, provided the first look at elusive methane absorption, and shown a diversity of photochemistry and disequilibrium processes at play in giant planet atmospheres. Previously obscuring aerosols that plagued UV-optical spectra are revealing themselves via distinct absorption and emission in the mid-IR confirming for the first time in irradiated exoplanets theoretical predictions of cloud formation. I will present a case study of one such planet which is revealing the roles of clouds and chemistry in exoplanet atmospheres and the feedback imparted between composition, dynamics, and detectability.
- Speaker: Hannah Wakeford
- Thursday 20 March 2025, 16:00-17:00
- Venue: Hoyle Lecture Theatre, Institute of Astronomy.
- Series: Institute of Astronomy Colloquia; organiser: Matthew Grayling.