Transcript * 40+ full members (faculty and staff) * Physics Dept. faculty: Burchat, Cabrera, Church, Gratta, Linde, Michelson, Petrosian, Romani, Scherrer, Wagoner * SLAC PPA Faculty.

* 40+ full members (faculty and staff)
* Physics Dept. faculty: Burchat,
Cabrera, Church, Gratta, Linde,
Michelson, Petrosian, Romani,
Scherrer, Wagoner
* SLAC PPA Faculty / staff: Bloom,
Burke, Digel, Madejski, Roodman,
Schindler, Tajima
* Joint SLAC + Physics: Abel, Allen,
Blandford (director), Funk, Kahn,
Kuo, Senatore, Wechsler
* ~30 postdocs; ~25 students
* General Group Meetings:
-Tuesday 11 AM - Varian 3rd floor
conf room
- Friday 10:30 AM – Kavli 3d floor
conf room
Research opportunities: http://kipac.stanford.edu/collab/student_resources
Events / seminars: http://kipac.stanford.edu/collab/seminars
Grad student orientation Fall 2011
Astrophysics and Cosmology at Stanford
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Two active centers
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General Group Meetings
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Kavli Bldg @SLAC
Physics/Astrophysics (P/AP) & Varian buildings on campus
Tuesday 11:00 AM Varian 3rd floor conf room
Friday 10:30 AM – Kavli 3d floor conf room.
many other weekly meetings of individual groups
Astrophysics colloquia – Thursdays 4:00PM
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Rotates between P/AP 101/102 on campus and Kavli Bldg at SLAC
Do check out
http://kipac-prod.stanford.edu/collab
GS Orient 11-2
Fermi LAT
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Large Area Telescope
assembled at SLAC
Launched in June 2008
Blandford, Bloom, Digel,
Funk, Michelson (PI),
Petrosian, Romani, Madejski,
Tajima, + many other SLAC
staff and post-docs
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GS Orient 11-3
Gamma-Ray Sky
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Lots of New Source Discoveries
Lots of Thesis Opportunities
GS Orient 09-4
GS Orient 09-5
Romani Group: High energy Astrophysics
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Current focus: Fermi/LAT study of Pulsars and Blazars:
Astrophysical Populations and Accelerator Physics
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LAT data – new discoveries piling up
Supporting observations across the E-M spectrum, Modeling, Physics
taking on rotators this year
talk with any of the characters pictured at
http://fsrq.stanford.edu/gamma/ : Group (w/ Michelson & Funk)
visit P/AP 233, 235; [email protected]
-rays 
BHs & spin (Rel. Jets)
Pulsars & Wind Nebuale
GS Orient 09-6
Fermi Gamma-ray Space telescope
and the extreme particle accelerators
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Fermi is studying lots of new sources –
extreme particle accelerators
Broad-band picture needed - radio to optical,
IR, UV, X-rays, …
Greg Madejski’s main area of interest: black
holes and astrophysical jets
Future: Stanford is involved in development
and planning for the next Caltech-led satellite
mission NuSTAR, sensitive in the hard X-ray
band
– will be launched in 2012
Fermi installed in
the rocket fairing
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Radio, optical, and X-ray image of a jet
in the active galaxy Virgo-A
Definitely looking for students / rotators!
[email protected]; (650) 926-5184
GS Orient 11-7
Stefan Funk: the Crab Nebula flares and the Fermi Bubbles
Back to the Galaxy
with Fermi
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Fermi “Bubbles”
- diffuse, large-scale gamma-ray
emission in our Galaxy
No publication by the LAT team yet
Exact properties will yield important
information about their origin
Crab Nebula: mechanisms for particle acceleration?
Extend energy spectrum to lower energies, understand time structure
After Fermi: CTA – The Cherenkov Telescope array
Fiber
USB
MAPMT
HV
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We plan to build a next-generation camera
Interested? Contact Stefan Funk, [email protected]
TARGET
X-ray astrophysics
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Greg Madejski, Steve Allen, Roger Romani,
Roger Blandford, Stefan Funk, Hiro Tajima,
Vahe’ Petrosian
X-ray data for celestial objects reveal
extreme physics, but also allow us to use
those objects to study cosmology
We use data from orbiting X-ray satellites:
Chandra, XMM-Newton, Suzaku
Future: NuSTAR with Caltech in 2012,
Astro-H with Japanese colleagues, 2015
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Specific projects: how clusters of galaxies
form and evolve?
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How is energy released by matter falling into
black holes?
NASA’s, European and Japanese facilities
GS Orient 09-10
Solar Flares
Clusters of Galaxies
AGN
Roger Blandford - Fermi Topics
Mainly astrophysical theory:
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Gamma ray emission by relativistic
jets made by massive spinning black
holes in galactic nuclei?
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Particle acceleration and magnetic
amplification at supernova remnants
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Making a self-consistent model of
strong shock
Explaining flares in the Crab Nebula
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Comparing 3D relativistic MHD
simulations with observations
New approaches are needed to
explain rapid variation
Classical radiation reaction
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Astrophysical challenges are shedding
new light on this old problem
Talk to Paul Simeon
Sarah Church’s Group Opportunities (1-2 rotators F, Sp)
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Inflation???
Development of radio amplifiers for
investigating:
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Inflation through polarization of the
Cosmic Microwave Background radiation
(QUIET II, CHIP)
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Epoch of reionization through
measurements of highly redshifted CO
lines (large-format radio interferometer)
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Star formation history through molecular
gas studies (Octopus at the Green Bank
Telescope)
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Rotators participate in design tasks, prototype
fabrication and testing
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In the longer term, thesis projects will include
deployment, data taking and analysis
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Visit our lab – Varian 203/204 or
stop by my office – Varian 344
Note: I am away winter 2012
Sarah Church’s group ([email protected]):
The Chajnantor Inflation Probe (CHIP)
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CHIP
 Large format interferometer
for CMB measurements
 Prototyping underway with
deployment expected 2011
Possible rotation opportunities in
instrument development leading
to deployed experiment
Kuo Group: Superconducting Detectors
for Cosmology and Astrophysics
We use superconductivity
to detect tiny radiation from
the Big Bang & compact
astronomical objects
radiation
thermometer
absorber
Cold bath (<0.5 K)
Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization
Several experiments in different phases,
Some observing, some under construction
Transition Edge Sensor Thermometer
R(T)
Operating point
temperature
Optical (visible) spectroscopy/polarimetry
of compact objects, one photon at a time
GS Orient 11-15
Direct dark matter detection:
SuperCDMS Discovery Potential
CDMS: Cold Dark Matter Search
Improvements in sensitivity by three decades (few 10-44 to 2.10-47) in the next 10 years
The origin of Dark Matter is a
central question to particle
physics, astrophysics and
cosmology
Ge
Recoil
Energy
(tens of keV)
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Dark Matter
(mass ~GeV – TeV)
CDMS is now a joint SLAC – Stanford Physics project
Contact: Prof. Blas Cabrera, Dr. Rich Partridge
Mass of a Dark Matter Candidate (GeV)
Who, Where, Rotation Slots?
High energy astrophysics:
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Roger Blandford (SLAC,SU) – R FWSp?
 Elliott Bloom (SLAC) – R FWSp
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Stefan Funk (SLAC)
Where most likely found
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Andrei Linde (SU)
When rot slot likely avail.
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Greg Madejski (SLAC) -- R FWSp
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Peter Michelson (SU) – R FW
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Vahe Petrosian (SU) -- R
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Roger Romani (SU) -- R WSp
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Robert Wagoner (SU) – R?
CMB:
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Sarah Church (SU) -- R
Chao-Lin Kuo (SU) – R F,Win
Solar:
Philip Scherrer (SU) – R FWSp
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Peter Sturrock (SU)
 Rotation positions noted from responses received. Others likely
have Rotation Positions as well! Please check
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GS Orient 11-17