|
Dear graduate and undergraduate students, I would like to make a new tradition regarding our colloquium speakers. As you students know, you are strongly encouraged (for graduate students this is particularly true, so in that case you should read: 'required') to attend colloquia in order to broaden your horizons and keep up with the research frontier in Physics and Astronomy. It will be even more beneficial to you students if you can interact directly with the speaker and ask the questions you may not feel comfortable asking at the colloquium itself; remember, there are no dumb questions! During such a session it also gives you the opportunity to talk about other issues with the speaker. You undergraduate students may be interested in the graduate program at his or her institution. As a graduate student, you may be interested in the other research that occurs at the speaker's institution for reasons of job opportunities. For this reason, I am scheduling a student session in the reading room with our speaker for this Friday after the colloquium, so to start shortly after the talk at 4pm and last for about an hour - or a little longer if you need it. This weeks speaker is Dr. Brian McNamara, Prof. in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. He will speak on: Title: A New Spin on AGN Feedback in Clusters and Galaxies Abstract: The hot, gaseous atmospheres of galaxies and clusters of galaxies are repositories for the energy output from active galactic nuclei (AGN) over cosmic time. X-ray observations are showing that star formation fueled by gas condensing out of hot atmospheres is strongly suppressed by AGN feedback. Dubbed "radio mode" feedback, this mechanism may solve several outstanding problems in astrophysics, including the numbers of luminous galaxies and their colors, and the excess number of hot baryons in the Universe. I present new evidence that the most energetic AGN outbursts may be powered by rapidly-spinning, ultra-massive black holes. Please make our speaker welcome and attend this session in large numbers. He has taken time out of his very busy schedule to visit us, so please make every effort to make both the colloquium and this special session, that is all yours! As a reminder: this semester our colloquia are on Fridays at 3pm in Nelson Auditorium on the first floor of Anderson Hall. We hope to change this time for the coming semester to a different day that is more convenient for many. Best wishes, Marianne Vestergaard -- Prof. Marianne Vestergaard Dept. of Physics and Astronomy Robinson Hall Tufts University Medford, MA 02155 Phone: 617-627-2756 |