Pau Amaro-Seoane * LISA Astro-GR@BCN *

LISA Astro-GR@BCN*
Merger of compact objects by supermassive black holes:
From Astrophysics to Fundamental Physics

*a.k.a. Barna (and as "Barcelona" too)
Stairs Sagrada Familia

(Sagrada Família version of a merger)

Introduction

The 2009 edition of the LISA Astro-GR meetings will take place at Barcelona organised jointly by the Institute of Space Sciences (CSIC-IEEC) and the Albert Einstein Institute.

This will be a 5-day informal meeting on E/IMRIs to be held at the Residència d'Investigadors del CSIC at the very city centre,

from Monday 7th to Friday, September 11th 2009.

The organising committee is:

Pau Amaro-Seoane (AEI), Priscilla Cañizares (ICE), Carlos F. Sopuerta (ICE), Alberto Lobo (ICE) and Bernard F. Schutz (AEI).

"Informal" means here no registration fee, nor poster presentation, nor proceedings.

We will have a small number of review talks and slots for other presentations.

The meeting is thought to be run in the style of Aspen/ITP/Newton Institute/Modest meetings, with plenty of time for discussions, just as the series of meetings LISA Astro-GR have always been.

This year's meeting will focus on a few, short reports from different scientists working on the interpretation of gravitational wave observations as a tool of astronomical discovery and a probe of the fundamental Physics of Gravity. This means that we will have some days devoted to representative, enlightening talks and some other days will be exclusively reserved to discuss on satellite groups, just as the first LISA Astro-GR meeting was.

So, what are these "satellites"? We will separate in two groups to address two lists of questions. Each of the two groups will pick up two leaders (one Astro person and one GR/DA person, in total four) which will take care of writing down the most interesting points in the separate discussions. The same leaders will then on the last day present the points as a talk to the other group.

How will we separate people? Last time, and thanks to Melvyn and Cole, the best possible way to do that proved to be not the contents of the two different lists, but the birthdays (odd/even). So be ready...

Rationale and Topics

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is the future ESA-NASA Gravitational Wave Observatory. It will look for GW signals in the low-frequency band (0.1 mHz - 1 Hz), mainly from the following sources:

galactic binaries
the coalescence and merger of massive black holes in galaxies at cosmological distances
the capture and inspiral of stellar compact objects into massive black holes at galactic centers
and even from cosmological stochastic backgrounds

These observations promise to open a completely new window to the exploration of the Universe, which is expected will have important consequences for our knowledge in astrophysics, cosmology, and fundamental physics. This edition of the LISA Astro-GR meetings will focus again (like the first meeting in the series) on the third source above, (iii), which due to the mass ratio of these binaries they are commonly known as Extreme-Mass-Ratio Inspirals (EMRIs). Considering the possible existence of intermediate-mass black holes, an additional source of gravitational waves for LISA will the inspiral of stellar-mass compact objects into an IMBH or the inspiral of an IMBH into a MBH. These sources, again due to the mass ratio of the binaries, are known as an intermediate-mass ratio inspirals (IMRIs).

These are one of the main sources of gravitational waves expected for LISA and their observations will produce spectacular science. In particular, with EMRI observations we will be able to map isolated black holes with high precision, obtaining very accurate values of their mass, spin, and some gravitational multipoles that will allow us to verify whether they are the stationary solutions predicted by General Relativity and described by the Kerr metric.

We can also try to use these sources to test General Relativity and alternative theories of gravity. In addition, LISA will provide information from hundreds (or even more) of massive black holes from the low redshift Universe (z < 1). This information should allow us to get information of the history of these black holes and from here we could test models of galaxy formation. Moreover, given that LISA will measure precise luminosity distances to these EMRIs, there is the possibility of doing precision cosmology with these sources (correlating the information with galaxy catalogs as has been proposed recently).

The meeting will focus on the following topics:

Astrophysical mechanisms that produce EMRI-LISA events
Astrophysical mechanisms that can produce Intermediate-Mass-Ratio Inspirals (IMRIs)
Modelling of EMRI-IMRI waveforms
Data Analysis for EMRI-LISA sources
Cosmology and Fundamental Physics with EMRI-IMRI observations

Again, and following the philosophy of last editions, we will be leaving plenty of room for the satellite discussions.

Registration and fee

The format and venue for LISA Astro-GR@BCN will limit the number of attendees to 70. We thus kindly ask every participant to register as soon as s/he makes travel arrangements to avoid disappointment.

In keeping with the spirit of an informal workshop, there will be no registration fee. We have very limited financial assistance available, on an individual case basis.

The aim of this meeting is not the talks, but the satellite discussions.

The meeting will have a limited number of talks following the reviews, organised to trigger fruitful discussions.

Tell us whether you would like to give a talk, but please do not be disappointed if you don't get a slot! We encourage you to participate actively in the discussion session.

To register just send an e-mail to Pau (Pau.Amaro-Seoane AT aei.mpg.de) and to Carlos (Sopuerta AT ice.cat) with the followings details:

Name + Surname
Institute
Area of interest for the purposes of this meeting (Astro/ GR/ DA)
Would you like to give a talk? (work in progress is more than fine)

Venue and accommodation (please note that some of the the links should display a popping-up picture. It works fine on firefox, windows IE, konqueror etc etc but not on safari)

Conference place:
From Monday until Wednesday Residència d'Investigadors del CSIC, near the Rambles
From Thursday to Friday at the Edifici Nexus (description of the way here)

The meeting, as you have already read above, will be in Barcelona Barna, a.k.a. Barcelona , a very nice Casa Batlló city.

More precisely, it will take place in the Residència d'Investigadors del CSIC. This is a residence hall of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and is specially well suited for hosting all kind of meetings as well as providing accommodation for researcher visiting academic institutions in Barcelona.

The residence has also some very nice rooms available (see below for details).

It is in the most central point of the city, right in the heart of Barcelona, in the Rambles. The following pictures are representative of the area:

Rambles 1 A typical flower shop in the Rambles (foto: Sergi Larripa) , Rambles 2 Barcelona's most famous market: El mercat de Boqueria (foto: Josep Renalias) , Rambles 3 Casa Figueras, Catalan Modernisme (foto: Mutari) , Rambles 4 Gran Teatre del Liceu, (foto: Josep Renalias) , Rambles 5 A typical mimo... This one seems to be a Caganer ,

Venue:

The Prat is the international airport of Barcelona. You can either take a taxi, which will cost you about 30 Euros or the Aerobus. There are bus stops everywhere outside the arrivals. Ask for a ticket to Plaça de Catalunya. The ticket will cost you 4,05 euros. You can catch the Aerobus from the airport and it stops at all 3 terminals. The aerobus will then take you to the city centre where you should get off: Plaça de Catalunya (last stop, sit and relax, you cannot get lost). From there, it's just a walking distance to the place where the conference will take place (from Mon - Wed only!, Thu and Fri will be at the Nexus):

View Larger Map

Accommodation:

Barcelona offers a wide variety of lodging possibilities. You can start looking here:Barcelona official tourism website, and then decide that the prices are crazy... then you can carry on by looking at the University residences, which use to be a more economic option, but please take into account that the number of available rooms will drop very quickly. If you want a room, make sure you reserve as soon as possible ("soon" as in "today" or "tomorrow").

Residència d'Investigadors del CSIC

From 01/10/08- 31/08/09

Note: This one is probable the most convinient one for you, since
the meeting will take place in the same building.

C/ Hospital, 64
08001 Barcelona
Map
Tel: 0034 93 443 86 10
Fax: 0034 93 442 82 02
email: investigadors@resa.es    Individual and double rooms with:

    * WiFi Internet connection
    * Bathroom
    * Air conditioning
    * TV

Mon through Fri/ Weekend

Single room

67,50 Euro / 51,00 Euro

Double room including anteroom (for one person)

78,00 Euro / 59,50 Euro

Double room (two persons)

94,00 Euro / 71,00 Euro
Prices are for room/night. IVA included. Includes: accommodation, breakfast, cleaining and new towels every day, new sheets every three days

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Residència La Ciutadella

From 01/09/08- 30/06/09

Mon through Fri/ Weekend

Double room including anteroom (for one person)

64,00 Euro / 48,00 Euro

Double room including anteroom (two persons)

85,50 Euro / 69,00 Euro

Prices are for room/night. IVA included. Includes: accommodation, cleaining and new towels every day, new sheets every three days

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Residència Campus del Mar

From 01/09/08- 30/06/09

Pg. Salvat Papasseit, 4
08003 Barcelona
Map
Tel: 0034 93 390 40 00
email: campusdelmar@resa.es     Individual and double rooms with:

    * WiFi Internet connection
    * Bathroom
    * Kitchen
    * Air conditioning
    * TV

Mon through Fri / Weekend

Single room

61,00 Euro / 50,50 Euro

Double room including anteroom (for one person)

73,00 Euro / 59,00 Euro

Double room including anteroom (two persons)

96,00 Euro / 82,00 Euro

Prices are for room/night. IVA included. Includes: accommodation, breakfast, cleaining and new towels every day, new sheets every three days

Way to the meeting place (on foot):

View Larger Map

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Residència Lesseps

From 01/09/08 - 30/06/09
Plaza Lesseps, 12
08023 Barcelona
Map
Tel: 0034 93 394 16 00
email: lesseps@resa.es Double rooms with:

    * Internet connection
    * Kitchen
    * Bathroom
    * Air conditioning
    * TV

Mon through Fri / Weekend

Double room including anteroom (for one person)

58,00 Euro / 43,50 Euro

Double room including anteroom (two persons)

83,50 Euro / 61,00 Euro

If you stay 15 days or longer
Double room including anteroom (for one person)

34,50 Euro

Double room including anteroom (two persons)

50,00 Euro

Prices are for room/night. IVA included. Includes: accommodation, breakfast, cleaining and new towels every day, new sheets every three days

Way to the meeting place (on foot):

View Larger Map

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Residència Torre Girona

From 01/09/08- 30/06/09
Pg. Til·lers, 19
08034 Barcelona
Map
Tel: 0034 93 390 43 00
Fax: 0034 93 205 69 10
email: torregirona@resa.es      Individual and double rooms with:

    * WiFi Internet connection
    * Bathroom
    * Air conditioning
    * TV

Mon through Fri / Weekend

Single room

65,00 Euro / 53,50 Euro
Double room including anteroom (for one person)

77,50 Euro / 63,00 Euro

Double room including anteroom (two persons)

102,50 Euro / 88,50 Euro
Prices are for room/night. IVA included. Includes: accommodation, breakfast, cleaining and new towels every day, new sheets every three days

When making your reservation mention the IEEC; you will get a small discount

Way to the meeting place (on foot):

View Larger Map

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Participants : 55
Name (Institute, Place, Interest*) email (<-at-> =@)

*Astro=Astrophysics and/or Cosmology
GR=General Relativity
?=Have expressed intention to come but need to confirm

Pau Amaro-Seoane (AEI, Potsdam, Astro) pau<-at->aei.mpg.de,

Theocharis Apostolatos(Uni. Athens, GR/DA) thapostol<-at->phys.uoa.gr,

Gerard Auger (APC, GR/DA) gerard.auger<-at->apc.univ-paris7.fr,

Stas Babak (AEI, Potsdam, GR) stba<-at->aei.mpg.de,

Leor Barack (University of Southampton, GR) l.barack<-at->soton.ac.uk,

Matt Benacquista (UTB, Astro) benacquista<-at->phys.utb.edu,

Tamara Bogdanović (UMD, Astro) tamarab<-at->astro.umd.edu,

Jeandrew Brink (Caltech, Astro, GR) jeandrew<-at->tapir.caltech.edu,

Chris van den Broeck (Cardiff U., GR) Chris.van-den-Broeck<-at->astro.cf.ac.uk,

Priscilla Cañizares (ICE-CSIC, IEEC, GR) pcm<-at->ice.cat,

Roberto Capuzzo Dolcetta (La Sapienza, Astro) Roberto.Capuzzodolcetta<-at->uniroma1.it,

Monica Colpi (Dipart. di Fisica G. Occhialini, Astro) colpi<-at->mib.infn.it,

Neil Cornish (Montana U., GR/DA) cornish<-at->physics.montana.edu,

Nicolas Douillet (Obs. Cote d'Azur, ARTEMIS, GR/DA) Nicolas.Douillet<-at->oca.eu,

Steve Drasco (AEI, GR) sdrasco<-at->aei.mpg.de,

Emili Elizalde (ICE, Astro/GR) elizalde<-at->ice.cat,

Marc Favata (UCSB, GR) favata<-at->kitp.ucsb.edu,

Guillaume Faye (APC, GR/DA) faye<-at->iap.fr,

Valeria Ferrari (La Sapienza and INFN, Astro) ?,

Jonathan Gair (IoA, Cambridge, GR) jrg23<-at->cam.ac.uk,

Leonardo Gualtieri (La Sapienza/INFN, GR) Leonardo.Gualtieri<-at->roma1.infn.it, ?

Mark Hannam (Cork Uni., GR/DA) markodh<-at->googlemail.com,

Sascha Husa (UIB, GR) sascha.husa<-at->aei.mpg.de,

Jose Luis Jaramillo (IAA, GR) jarama<-at->iaa.es,

Oliver Jennrich (ESA, GR/DA) ,

Philippe Jetzter (UZH, GR) jetzer<-at->physik.uzh.ch,

Antoine Klein (UZH, Astro/GR/DA) Antoine.Klein<-at->gmail.com,

Badri Krishnan (AEI, GR) Badri.Krishnan<-at->aei.mpg.de,

Yuri Levin (Leiden, Astro, GR) yuri<-at->lorentz.leidenuniv.nl,

Alberto Lobo (ICE-CSIC, IEEC, GR) lobo<-at->ice.cat,

Ilya Mandel (NU, GR/Astro) ilyamandel<-at->chgk.info,

Frank Ohme (AEI, GR/Astro) frank.ohme<-at->aei.mpg.de,

Eric Plagnol (APC, GR/DA) eric.plagnol<-at->apc.univ-paris7.fr,

Antoine Petiteau (AEI, GR, DA) antoine.petiteau<-at->aei.mpg.de,

Eduardo Portero (a.k.a. "Ed Porter", APC, DA/GR/Astro/Philosophy) porter<-at->apc.univ-paris7.fr,

Miguel Preto (ARI, Heidelberg, Astro) miguelp<-at->ari.uni-heidelberg.de,

Constanze Rödig (Uni. of Würzburg) croedig<-at->astro.uni-wuerzburg.de,

Lucia Santamaria (AEI, DA) Lucia.Santamaria<-at->aei.mpg.de,

Misao Sasaki (YITP, GR) ?,

Bangalore Sathyaprakash (Cardiff Uni., GR/DA) B.Sathyaprakash<-at->astro.cf.ac.uk,

Rainer Schödel (IAA, Astro) rainer<-at->iaa.es,

Bernard Schutz (AEI, GR) schutz<-at->aei.mpg.de,

Deirdre Shoemaker (GATECH, Astro/GR/DA) deirdre.shoemaker<-at->physics.gatech.edu,

Alicia Sintes Olives (UIB, AEI, GR/DA) sintes<-at->aei.mpg.de,

Carlos F. Sopuerta (ICE-CSIC, IEEC, Astro, GR) sopuerta<-at->ice.cat,

Alessandro Spallicci (GR, Inst.LPC2E, Uni. d'Orlèans) alessandro.spallicci<-at->cnrs-orleans.fr,

Ulrich Sperhake (CalTech, GR) sperhake<-at->tapir.caltech.edu,

Miquel Trias (Uni. Illes Balears, GR/DA), miquel.trias<-at->uib.es,

Ricard Tomàs Bayo (Th. Phys. Uni Hamburg, Astro) ricard.tomas.bayo<-at->desy.de,

Michele Vallisneri (JPL-CalTech, Astro/ GR/ DA) vallis<-at->caltech.edu,

Shang Yu (AEI, GR/DA) yu.shang<-at->aei.mpg.de,

Nico Yunes (Princeton, GR) nyunes<-at->princeton.edu

Introduction | Topics | Registration | Venue | Participants | Programme | Questions |