Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2017
Volume 62, Number 1
Saturday–Tuesday, January 28–31, 2017; Washington, DC
Session H5: Mini-symposium: Physics of the CosmosFocus
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Sponsoring Units: DAP Chair: Ann Hornschemeier, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Room: Virginia B |
Sunday, January 29, 2017 8:30AM - 9:06AM |
H5.00001: High Energy Astrophysics and Cosmology from Space: NASA’s Physics of the Cosmos Program Invited Speaker: Marshall Bautz We summarize currently-funded NASA activities in high energy astrophysics and cosmology embodied in the NASA Physics of the Cosmos program, including updates on technology development and mission studies. The portfolio includes participation in a space mission to measure gravitational waves from a variety of astrophysical sources, including binary black holes, throughout most of cosmic history, and in another to map the evolution of black hole accretion by means of the accompanying X-ray emission. These missions are envisioned as collaborations with the European Space Agency's Large 3 (L3) and Athena programs, respectively. It also features definition of a large, NASA-led X-ray Observatory capable of tracing the surprisingly rapid growth of supermassive black holes during the first billion years of cosmic history. The program also includes the study of cosmic rays and high-energy gamma-ray photons resulting from range of physical processes, and efforts to characterize both the physics of inflation associated with the birth of the universe and the nature of the dark energy that dominates its mass-energy content today. Finally, we describe the activities of the Physics of the Cosmos Program Analysis Group, which serves as a forum for community analysis and input to NASA. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, January 29, 2017 9:06AM - 9:18AM |
H5.00002: Preparing for LISA in the post-detection era John Conklin In 2016 we saw the first direct detections of gravitational waves by Advanced LIGO and the positive results from LISA Pathfinder. In this context, NASA has decided to partner with the ESA on their L3 gravitational wave observatory, whose science goals are outlined in the white paper, The Gravitational Universe. The current launch date for L3 is 2034, but with the success of Pathfinder and the increased scientific interest in gravitational waves caused by LIGO, ESA and its member states are exploring ways to move up the launch date. In the U.S., the National Academy's Astronomy Midterm Assessment has recommended that NASA restore support for a gravitational wave mission in this decade with the goal of realizing the full scientific capability of the mission envisioned in the 2020 decadal. NASA has appointed the L3 Study Team, charged with providing analysis of potential U.S. contributions to the European-led L3 mission and preparing for the next decadal survey. The LISA mission concept, proposed for L3, will improve our understanding of the formation and growth of massive black holes, create a census of compact binary systems in the Milky Way, test general relativity in extreme conditions, provide predictions of black hole binary mergers in the LIGO frequency band, and enable searches for new physics. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, January 29, 2017 9:18AM - 9:30AM |
H5.00003: Future Hard X-ray and Gamma-Ray Missions Henric Krawczynski With four major NASA and ESA hard X-ray and gamma-ray missions in orbit (Swift, NuSTAR, INTEGRAL, and Fermi) hard X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy is making major contributions to our understanding of the cosmos. In this talk, I will summarize the current and upcoming activities of the Physics of the Cosmos Gamma Ray Science Interest Group and highlight a few of the future hard X-ray and gamma-ray mission discussed by the community. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, January 29, 2017 9:30AM - 9:42AM |
H5.00004: Progress in Astrophysics of Cosmic Rays Igor Moskalenko I will review recent progress in Astrophysics of Cosmic Rays and new challenges. I will discuss measurements that have to be done to address these challenges and to further advance our understanding of the phenomenon of cosmic rays, mechanisms of their acceleration and interactions with interstellar medium. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, January 29, 2017 9:42AM - 9:54AM |
H5.00005: Black holes, formation of structure, and extreme physics: the present and future of X-ray astrophysics Ralph Kraft, Mark Bautz X-ray astrophysics lies at the conjunction of many of the big picture questions we have about our Universe. We detect X-rays from supermassive black holes when the Universe was 7\% of its present age, just after the formation of the first galaxies. Most of the baryons in the Universe are in clusters or in the filaments between collapsed structures heated to X-ray emitting temperatures. X-ray studies of the evolution of these collapsed structures provide strong constraints on cosmological parameters. Studies by future X-ray observatories of this hot filamentary gas between clusters and of halos of galaxies will provide unique windows in the processes of the early universe and formation of structure. In this presentation, we discuss the current state of X-ray astrophysics. We will present the status of and recent science highlights from the current generation of X-ray observatories. We will outline the scientific potential for missions that will soon be launched including NICER, eRosita, and a potential refly of the Hitomi mission, as well as longer term missions such as the European L2 Athena mission. Finally, we will summarize the status of the X-ray Surveyor, one of the four large mission concepts under study prior to the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Review. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, January 29, 2017 9:54AM - 10:06AM |
H5.00006: The Cosmic Microwave Background and its Polarization Edward Wollack The subtle spatial variations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation provide a unique astrophysical probe of the early Universe. Characterization of this relic radiation and its polarization have the power to reveal and constrain the properties of light astroparticle species, long wave gravitational radiation, and intervening mass concentrations. Recent advances in theory, observation, and instrumentation have set the stage to experimentally confront the inflationary paradigm via precision polarimetric surveys of the CMB. Current and proposed future observational efforts from the ground, balloon, and spaceborne platforms will be briefly surveyed in this presentation. Recent community activities by the Inflation Probe Science Interest Group (IPSIG) will also be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
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