From amr w astro.uni.torun.pl  Wed May  8 11:50:37 2002
From: amr w astro.uni.torun.pl (Andrzej Marecki)
Date: Wed, 08 May 2002 11:50:37 +0200
Subject: Dimming Supernovae by Axions
Message-ID: <3CD8F4ED.CFF309C9@astro.uni.torun.pl>

Yet another "non-orthodox" view on SN dimming
attributed to the expansion of the Universe:

http://t8web.lanl.gov/people/terning/axion.html

(This is based on a paper accepted by
Physical Review Letters 88 (2002), 161302.)

--
Andrzej
 

From boud w astro.uni.torun.pl  Wed May  8 13:22:34 2002
From: boud w astro.uni.torun.pl (Boud Roukema)
Date: Wed, 8 May 2002 13:22:34 +0200 (MET DST)
Subject: Dimming Supernovae by Axions
In-Reply-To: <3CD8F4ED.CFF309C9@astro.uni.torun.pl>
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.4.44.0205081310540.5736-100000@hevelius.astro.uni.torun.pl>

On Wed, 8 May 2002, Andrzej Marecki wrote:

> Yet another "non-orthodox" view on SN dimming
> attributed to the expansion of the Universe:
>
> http://t8web.lanl.gov/people/terning/axion.html

Well, to me it looks like just one of the many theoretical
ideas of what dark energy could be: it does not avoid
having some form of quintessence/dark energy.

I'm not that worried whether or not  �  is positive, zero or
negative. ;) (When people say "accelerating universe", they of course
do not mean d^2 X/dt^2 > 0 where X is a spatial position, they mean
that  � > 0, where a is the scale factor.)

The fact of having new stuff in the universe is still exciting!

BTW, it's interesting that their ideas affect both
(i) apparent magnitudes via physical change of photons
(ii) the standard distance-redshift relations.

Standard comoving ruler measurements would be independent of (i).

But they would be able to measure (ii) by estimating w_Q.  So, let's
measure w_Q ;).

Cze��
boud

 

From boud w astro.uni.torun.pl  Thu May  9 17:07:58 2002
From: boud w astro.uni.torun.pl (Boud Roukema)
Date: Thu, 9 May 2002 17:07:58 +0200 (MET DST)
Subject: Paddy+Tirth: DE & DMatter same thing?
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.4.44.0205091703380.7165-100000@hevelius.astro.uni.torun.pl>

Paddy and his PhD student Tirth have come up with an idea
for how dark matter and dark energy could just be two
components of the same thing:

http://de.arXiv.org/abs/hep-th/0205055

Cool! :)

 


From boud w astro.uni.torun.pl  Mon May 13 14:49:36 2002
From: boud w astro.uni.torun.pl (Boud Roukema)
Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 14:49:36 +0200 (MET DST)
Subject: astro-ph/0205155 another step in cosmo-topology...
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.4.44.0205131444390.1337-100000@hevelius.astro.uni.torun.pl>

Cze�� wszystkim,

An interesting paper by Rocha et al., a European collaboration
(including Krzyszek G�rski) on COBE analysis of equal-side-length
torus models of the Universe:

http://de.arXiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0205155

They use the word "asymmetric" to talk about the possibility that the
side lengths might be unequal. Given the absence of any serious
physical theory for the global shape of the Universe, it seems best,
IMHO, to keep all options open...

Pozd,
Boud

 


From boud w astro.uni.torun.pl  Tue May 21 13:12:48 2002
From: boud w astro.uni.torun.pl (boud w astro.uni.torun.pl)
Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 13:12:48 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: XXI Texas Symposium - REGISTRATION NOW OPEN! (fwd)
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.21.0205211308310.11581-100000@semuramat.camk.edu.pl>

Hi everyone,
  I'm not that eager to go to an "expensive hotel chain" meeting,
but if I miss the northern summer cosmo meetings then at least I 
could go to one big cosmo meeting this calendar year... 

Cze��
Boud


> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 17:44:37 +0200 (CEST)
> From: XXI Texas Symposium <texaflor w arcetri.astro.it>
> Subject: XXI Texas Symposium - REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!
> 
Texas in Tuscany
XXI Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics
Florence, Italy, December 9-13, 2002

FIRST CIRCULAR (May 2002)

Introduction

The XXI Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics will be organized in
Florence, 9-13 December 2002, by the National Institute of Astrophysics -
Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, in collaboration with the National Institute
of Nuclear Physics and other scientific Institutions (the complete list will
appear in a subsequent announcement).  The meeting will be held in the Palazzo
dei Congressi, in the historic center of the city, and will consist of Invited
Review Talks (IT) in the morning (each lasting about 40 minutes) and Joint
Discussions (JD) during the afternoon. Invited Talks will review recent
developments in various fields in Astrophysics, Cosmology and related issues of
Physics of Gravitation and Elementary Particles. Joint Discussions will cover
specific areas with a number of shorter invited talks (about 20 minutes each).
In addition, participants will be able to propose poster papers covering their
recent research. The goal of the meeting is to provide a general review of the
status and the prospects of research for a diversified audience of
astrophysicists and physicists.

How to reach Florence

Florence can be reached directly by airplane from several major European
cities. Alternative airports with international connections are Bologna or Pisa
(both about 1 hour train ride from Florence). Another alternative is Rome (the
train ride from the Rome Central Station Termini to Florence can be as  short
as 95 minutes) or Milan (the train ride from the Milan Central Station to
Florence takes almost 3 hours). Please note, however, that both in Milan and in
Rome the trip from the Airport to the Central Station will take about one
additional hour.

Accommodation

The Organizers have selected a travel agency in Florence to handle all the
problems connected with accommodation. The Organizers will not be able to help
in any other way with this matter. Block reservations in various hotels are
being made, which will be assigned on a first-come-first-served basis until
November 15, 2002. Participants who want to arrange directly their own
accommodation, or to contact a different travel agency are of course free to do
so; they are however advised to book their accommodation as soon as possible,
given the strong touristic pressure on Florence.  Booking will be firm after a
deposit equal to the cost of the first night in the chosen hotel. The quoted
costs include breakfast, and all applicable taxes. The deposit will be
acknowledged in the final bill, to be paid by the participant directly at the
hotel upon leaving. Participants who want to leave earlier than initially
arranged must notify the hotel at least 24 hours in advance.  Cancellations
will be possible only until November 15, 2002; in these cases the deposit will
be returned less a 30% handling fee.  The accommodation form is now available
at http://www.arcetri.astro.it/~texaflor/accommodation_first.html

Registration

The registration fee for the Symposium will be 300 Euros if paid by November 1
and 400 Euros thereafter. This will cover participation, coffee breaks and a
personal copy of the Proceedings.  The registration form is now available at
http://www.arcetri.astro.it/~texaflor/registration_first.html

Program

The following topics will be covered by Invited Talks and (in some cases)
additional Joint Discussions:

- PHYSICS AROUND THE BIG BANG

- THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EARLY UNIVERSE

- COSMOLOGICAL PARAMETERS 

- THE DAWN OF LIGHT IN THE UNIVERSE 

- COSMOLOGICAL BACKGROUND 

- DARK MATTER AND GRAVITATIONAL LENSES 

- LARGE SCALE STRUCTURES AND CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES 

- GAMMA RAY BURSTS 

- ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI 

- SUPERNOVAE, REMNANTS AND COLLAPSED STARS 

- BLACK HOLES 

- GRAVITATIONAL WAVES 

- COSMIC-RAY AND GAMMA-RAY ASTRONOMY 

- NEUTRINO PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY 
        

Invited speakers

A partial list of invited speakers includes: R. Blandford, C. Cesarsky,
A. Fabian, F. Halzen, A. Lasenby, B. Leibundgut, P. Madau, I. Novikov,
B. Schutz, P. Steinhardt, V. Trimble, G.  Veneziano, M. Vietri, S. White. The
program with the complete list of speakers and convenors of the Joint
Discussions will appear on the web at
http://www.arcetri.astro.it/~texaflor/program.html.
The Proceedings of the Symposium will include the invited reviews and the
presentations at the joint discussions (no posters).

Scientific Organizing Committee

F. Pacini (Chair, Italy), M. Baldo Ceolin (Italy), M. Rees (UK), R. Barbieri
(Italy), V. Rubin (USA), C. Cesarsky (ESO), G. Setti (Italy), A. Gimenez (ESA),
J. Silk (UK), G.  Hasinger (Germany), M. Tavani (Italy), R. Kolb (USA),
Y. Totsuka (Japan), R. Manchester (Australia), V. Trimble (USA),
I. Novikov (Denmark), G. Veneziano (CERN), A.  Olinto (USA), L. Woltjer (France)

Local Organizing Committee

M. Salvati (Chair), R. Bandiera, L. Falai, R. Maiolino, F. Mannucci,
A. Marconi, E. Masini, N. Nagar.

Further information:

http://www.arcetri.astro.it/~texaflor/
e-mail: texas_florence w arcetri.astro.it
fax ++ 39 055 220039

  
  

 


From boud w astro.uni.torun.pl  Thu May 23 16:30:49 2002
From: boud w astro.uni.torun.pl (Boud Roukema)
Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 16:30:49 +0200 (MET DST)
Subject: proposition for masters students 2002/2003
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.4.44.0205231606410.8912-100000@hevelius.astro.uni.torun.pl>

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposition for Supervising Masters (Magister) projects at TCfA for
Oct 2002 - Sep 2003

Supervisor: B. Roukema

Number of students: up to 3-4 students is possible

Title: Observational Constraints on Cosmological Parameters

Description:
 There are many possible projects which could be done as a master's
thesis project, in using publicly available archival data from
observational surveys to constrain one or more of the local or
global cosmological parameters, either those related to shape
(curvature, topology) or maybe also those unrelated to shape
("dark energy"). The precise projects would be chosen in discussion
with the masters students during Oct-Nov 2002. Some examples would include
further development and application of the "Dark Energy" software
package which has been worked on during the "Shape of the Universe"
monograph course:
http://www.astro.uni.torun.pl/sympa/shape-univ/

Requirements:
- basic knowledge in astronomy, physics, mathematics, computing skills
- desire to measure something about the shape of the Universe
- willingness both to learn from and to teach others interested in
observational cosmology at TCfA
- willingness to learn the following practical skills: touch-typing,
emacs, \LaTeX, usage of the sympa mailing lists
- willingness to participate in the "Shape of the Universe" monograph
course and/or Bronek Rudak's semester 9 "Kosmologia" course:
http://www.ncac.torun.pl/~bronek/KOS.html
- nie ma problemu je�li student magisterowy nie (jeszcze) dobrze m�wi� po
angielsku

----------------------------------------------------------------------






 


From bronek w ncac.torun.pl  Thu May 23 17:02:39 2002
From: bronek w ncac.torun.pl (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Bronis=B3aw?= Rudak)
Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 17:02:39 +0200
Subject: proposition for masters students 2002/2003
References: <Pine.SOL.4.44.0205231606410.8912-100000@hevelius.astro.uni.torun.pl>
Message-ID: <3CED048F.52DEA533@ncac.torun.pl>

Hi Boud,

Thanks for your `Propositions'.
General outline of your Master' projects  looks very good.
What  I suggest to change is the kick-off time:
Oct-Nov2002 is (in my experience) too late
to discuss details of the projects.

Have fun with your students,

  br.



Boud Roukema wrote:

> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Proposition for Supervising Masters (Magister) projects at TCfA for
> Oct 2002 - Sep 2003
>
> Supervisor: B. Roukema
>
> Number of students: up to 3-4 students is possible
>
> Title: Observational Constraints on Cosmological Parameters
>
> Description:
>  There are many possible projects which could be done as a master's
> thesis project, in using publicly available archival data from
> observational surveys to constrain one or more of the local or
> global cosmological parameters, either those related to shape
> (curvature, topology) or maybe also those unrelated to shape
> ("dark energy"). The precise projects would be chosen in discussion
> with the masters students during Oct-Nov 2002. Some examples would include
> further development and application of the "Dark Energy" software
> package which has been worked on during the "Shape of the Universe"
> monograph course:
> http://www.astro.uni.torun.pl/sympa/shape-univ/
>
> Requirements:
> - basic knowledge in astronomy, physics, mathematics, computing skills
> - desire to measure something about the shape of the Universe
> - willingness both to learn from and to teach others interested in
> observational cosmology at TCfA
> - willingness to learn the following practical skills: touch-typing,
> emacs, \LaTeX, usage of the sympa mailing lists
> - willingness to participate in the "Shape of the Universe" monograph
> course and/or Bronek Rudak's semester 9 "Kosmologia" course:
> http://www.ncac.torun.pl/~bronek/KOS.html
> - nie ma problemu je¶li student magisterowy nie (jeszcze) dobrze mówiæ po
> angielsku
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------

 


From boud w astro.uni.torun.pl  Thu May 23 17:43:07 2002
From: boud w astro.uni.torun.pl (Boud Roukema)
Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 17:43:07 +0200 (MET DST)
Subject: proposition for masters students 2002/2003
In-Reply-To: <3CED048F.52DEA533@ncac.torun.pl>
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.4.44.0205231714570.9032-100000@hevelius.astro.uni.torun.pl>

Hi Bronek,

On Thu, 23 May 2002, [iso-8859-1] Bronis�aw Rudak wrote:

> Hi Boud,
>
> Thanks for your `Propositions'.
> General outline of your Master' projects  looks very good.

Thanks, Bronek. :)

> What  I suggest to change is the kick-off time:
> Oct-Nov2002 is (in my experience) too late
> to discuss details of the projects.

Well, my idea is to *start* talking whenever the academic
year starts - is this Sep or Oct ? - making an initial plan,
and then depending on how things go for a month or two,
correcting and making a more realistic plan.

So am I correct in assuming you're giving your standard
"semester 9" cosmo course in the coming semester?

Is this an examined course or an unexamined course?

I would be interested to see if we could work together to help
computerise this course, e.g. offer to the students to each prepare
html pages (w po polsku) with links for one of the lines in your
course guideline (link in previous email), or to develop simple
fortran (or C) packages so that they can play around with the formulae
for the different bits of physics, and maybe accept part of the
work they do on this as a contribution to their examination grades.

I think that client-side clickable image maps (e.g.

http://www.astro.uni.torun.pl/~boud/DE/usage.html#docs

) could help considerably for students (and lecturers) to better
understand what bits of knowledge are required for understanding
other bits of knowledge, and enabling them to more flexibly
fill in the missing bits...

I also think that if Staszek Bajtlik is doing his cosmology course at
the same time, and that if students in *both* courses learn the
content partly by building html + fortran (or C) pages/software, then
they would get an extra motivation by the stimulation of having the
exchange between UW and UMK students...

Bronek, Staszek, if you are interested, then here at TCfA we would be
happy to host a mailing list, or maybe two mailing lists for your two
courses, since the style and content are likely to be somewhat
different, though clearly overlapping. My feeling is that it would be
more stimulating to the students to have a single mailing list, since
this would force them to try to compare the different (though
largely overlapping) content of the two courses, which is one of
the best ways of understanding something - you can't seriously
compare X and Y without knowing what X and Y really are...

Of course, this would depend on the students' access - while here in
Piwnice the undergrad students' online facilities (big screen machines
or else at least PCs) are getting better, but at the Physics dept they
seem to be quite minimal and difficult to access, and I don't know
about UW students.

But if we want the students to really learn and develop the freedom
to learn and do research, I don't see any alternative.

A suggestion for the name of the mailing list:

cosmo-intro


Cze��
Boud



 


From bronek w ncac.torun.pl  Thu May 23 18:01:04 2002
From: bronek w ncac.torun.pl (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Bronis=B3aw?= Rudak)
Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 18:01:04 +0200
Subject: proposition for masters students 2002/2003
References: <Pine.SOL.4.44.0205231714570.9032-100000@hevelius.astro.uni.torun.pl>
Message-ID: <3CED1240.F81EC938@ncac.torun.pl>

czesc Boud,

I'm totally with you. Let's discuss
 your idea sometime in June (I'm
completely busy at the moment).
br.