STARS2015 - 3rd Caribbean Symposium on Cosmology, Gravitation, Nuclear and Astroparticle Physics / SMFNS2015 - 4th International Symposium on Strong Electromagnetic Fields and Neutron Stars

10 May 2015, 08:00 → 16 May 2015, 18:00 Cuba

The events are the third and fourth in a series of meetings gathering scientists working on astroparticle physics, cosmology, gravitation, nuclear physics, and related fields. As in previous years, the meeting sessions will consist of invited and contributed talks and will cover recent developments in the following topics:   

STARS2015 – New phenomena and new states of matter in the Universe, general relativity, gravitation, cosmology, heavy ion collisions and the formation of the quark-gluon plasma, white dwarfs, neutron stars and pulsars, black holes, gamma-ray emission in the Universe, high energy cosmic rays, gravitational waves, dark energy and dark matter, strange matter and strange stars, antimatter in the Universe, and topics related to these.

SMFNS2015 – Strong magnetic fields in the Universe, strong magnetic fields in compact stars and in galaxies, ultra-strong magnetic fields in neutron star mergers, quark stars and magnetars, strong magnetic fields and the cosmic microwave background, and topics related to these.

Organizing Committee:

• Aurora Perez Martinez - Instituto de Cibernética, Matemática y Física (ICIMAF), La Habana, Cuba – Co-Chair
• Carola Dobrigkeit – Universidade de Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil
• César A. Zen Vasconcellos – Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil / International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics Network (ICRANet), Pescara, Itália – Chair
• Christian Motch – CNRS - Observatoire Astronomique, Université de Strasbourg, France
• German Lugones – Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Santo André, Brazil
• Hugo Pérez Rojas – Instituto de Cibernética, Matemática y Física (ICIMAF), La Habana, Cuba – Co-Chair
• Joerg Aichelin – Subatech, UN, France
• Kepler de S. Oliveira Filho – Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
• Luciano Rezzolla – Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Potsdam, Germany
• Narek Sahakyan – NAS, ICRANet, Armenia
• Ricardo González Felipe – ISEL and CFTP/IST, Lisboa, Portugal – Co-Chair
• Roberto Gilmozzi – European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), Garching bei München, Germany
• Rodrigo Picanço Negreiros – Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Thomas Boller – Max-Planck Institute, Leipzig, Germany

International Advisory Committee:

• Alessandro De Angelis – Universitá di Udine, Italia
• Andreas Reisenegger – Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC), Santiago, Chile
• Constança Providência – Universidade de Coimbra (UC), Portugal
• Dany Page - Universidade Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), México
• David Blaschke – University of Wroclaw (UWr), Poland
• Débora Perez Menezes – Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis, Brazil
• Dimiter Hadjimichef – Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
• Donald B. Melrose – University of Sydney, Australia
• Félix Mirabel – Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique, France and CONICET, Argentina
• Fridolin Weber – San Diego State University (SDSU), Baton Rouge, USA
• Gabriela González – Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University (LSU), USA
• Gabriella Piccinelli – Universidade Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), México
• Gagik Tovmasian –  Universidade Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), México
• Horst Stöcker  – Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität (JWGU), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
• Ignatios Antoniadis – CERN Theory Division, Geneva, Switzerland
• Jorge Horvath – Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas, Universidade de São Paulo (IAG-USP), Brazil
• José A. de Freitas Pacheco – Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, France
• Jozef M. Maj – Specola Vaticana, Cittá del Vaticano, Italy
• Manuel Malheiro – Instituto Tecnológico da Aeronáutica, São Paulo, Brazil
• Massimo Della Valle – Instituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Napoli, Italia
• Norberto Scoccola – Tandar Laboratory, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Paolo Giommi – Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI)
• Pascal Chardonnet – University of Savoie, Annecy-leVieux, France
• Peter Hess – Universidade Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), México
• Renxin Xu – Beijing University (PKU), China
• Stefan Schramm – Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität (JWGU), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
• Valdir Barbosa Bezerra – Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPb), João Pessoa, Brazil
• Walter Greiner – Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität (JWGU), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
• Wolfgang Bauer – Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, Michigan, USA

Local Organizers:

• Aurora Pérez Martínez (ICIMAF, Havana, Cuba)
• Daryel Manreza Paret (ICIMAF, Havana, Cuba)
• Elizabeth Rodríguez Querts (ICIMAF, Havana, Cuba)
• Ismael Delgado Gaspar (IGA, Havana, Cuba)

 

Circulars

• First_Circular_stars2015smfns.pdf
• First_Circular_to_Participants_stars2015smfns.pdf
• Second_Circular_stars2015smfns.pdf
• Third_Circular_stars2015smfns.pdf

Poster Poster_STARS2015_30x40.pdf Poster_STARS2015_50x60.pdf

Sunday, 10 May

08:30 → 09:00 Registration & Opening

09:00 → 09:40 Binary neutron stars from gravitational radiation to R-process nucleosynthesis

Beyond being prime targets for gravitational radiation detection Compact Binary Mergers are the likely sources of short GRBs as well as the most likely origin of heavy R-process material. The latter ideas, a 25 years old proposition, has received observational support with the discovery of a Macro-nova - an IR signal that followed the short GRB 130603B and is the hallmark of newly formed R-process material. In this short review I describe the formation of the Macro-nova from matter ejected in the merger process and I discuss recent searches for a radio flare that should follow the Macro-nova signal (the Macro-nova and the associated radio flare are the analogues of a Supernova and a subsequent supernova remnant). Recent estimates of the cosmological evolution of rate of neutron star mergers (based on observations of short GRBs) lead to predictions on the cosmic evolution of abundance of heavy R-process material. I compare those with observations. Finally I discuss the implications of the observations of a Macro-nova and the predictions of Radio Flares for the identification of the exact positions of mergers whose Gravitational Radiation signals have been detected.

Speaker: Tsvi Piran (The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel)

Slides Piran.pdf

09:40 → 10:20 Black hole imaging as GR tests in the Galactic Center

modified theory of gravitation, observational test, black hole imaging

Speaker: Thomas Boller (M)

Slides Boller.pdf

10:20 → 10:40 Coffee break / Poster Session

10:40 → 11:20 A proposal of quantization with a minimal length present

The proposal consists of extending the 4-dimensional physical space to an 8-dimensional pseudo-complex (pc) space. The pc-extension introduces a minimal length as a parameter, thus, it is unaffected by Poincaré transformations. All continuous symmetries are maintained. In the extended space, standard quantization rules are applied and it is shown that after projection to the 4-dimensional physical space it is equivalent to non-commuting coordinates and non-commuting linear moments. A simple (1+1)-dimensional model is discussed investigating remnant effects of the 4-dimensional (in pc-coordinates) origin. The main result is: Extending to a higher dimensional space might offer to maintain the standard quantization rules and continuous symmetries, but at the same time simulating the effects of a minimal length and non-commutative properties of coordinates.

Speaker: Peter Hess

Slides Hess.pdf

11:20 → 12:00 How to construct credible cosmic structures with exact solutions of General Relativity

We provide specific examples of how a class of exact solutions of Einstein's equations (the Szekeres models) can be worked out to describe the evolution of a collection of over-densities and voids in assorted directions. The resulting structures can be used to study the full relativistic non-linear effects in the dynamics of structure formation and growth suppression, in gravitational lensing and in fitting observations in the galactic cluster and super-cluster scale.

Speaker: Roberto SUSSMAN (ICN-UNAM, Mexico)

Slides Sussman.pdf

12:00 → 12:30 Unification of Inflation and Dark Energy in a Non Singular Emergent Scenario

A new class of gravity-matter models defined in terms of two independent non-Riemannian volume forms (alternative generally covariant integration measure densities) on the space-time manifold are studied in some detail. These models involve an additional R^2 (square of the scalar curvature) term as well as scalar matter field potentials of appropriate form so that the pertinent action is invariant under global Weyl-scale symmetry. Scale invariance is spontaneously broken upon integration of the equations of motion. After performing transition to the physical Einstein frame we obtain: (i) An effective potential for the scalar field with two flat regions which allows for a unified description of both early universe inflation as well as of present dark energy epoch; (ii) For a definite parameter range the model possesses a non-singular "emergent universe" solution which describes an initial phase of evolution that precedes the inflationary phase.

Speaker: Eduardo Guendelman (Ben Gurion University)

Slides Guendelman.pdf

12:30 → 14:00 Lunch break

14:00 → 14:40 General relativity as a canonical gauge theory

It is widely accepted that the fundamental laws of nature should follow from an action principle. This holds in particular for the laws determining the dynamics of the space-time geometry. The general principle of relativity requires the action principle to be maintained in its form under the transition from one reference frame to another, possibly non-inertial frame of reference. The particular subset of transformations of a system's dynamical variables that maintain the form of the action principle comprises the group of canonical transformations. By their construction, canonical transformations are defined by "generating functions". In this talk, a generating function will be presented that defines the given mapping of the connection coefficients ("Christoffel symbols"). In conjunction with the associated transformation rules for their canonical conjugates, this *unambiguously* yields a Hamiltonian that is form-invariant under a general transition to another reference frame. Thereby, a description of the dynamics of space-time is established that is not postulated but *derived from basic principles*, namely the action principle and the general principle of relativity. No further assumptions are incorporated. Neither a torsion of space-time is excluded *a priori*, nor a specific correlation of the Christoffel symbols with the metric is postulated. Moreover, the resulting theory satisfies the principle of scale invariance and is renormalizable. Remarkably, the corresponding Lagrangian of the presented formalism was already proposed in 1918 by A. Einstein in a personal letter to H. Weyl, reasoning analogies with other classical field theories.

Speaker: Jürgen Struckmeier (GSI)

Slides Struckmeier.pdf

14:40 → 15:20 Can General Relativity's N-body Lagrangian Be Obtained From Iterative Algebraic Scaling Equations?

A local system of bodies in General Relativity whose exterior metric field asymptotically approaches the Minkowski metric effaces any effects of the matter distribution exterior to the Minkowski boundary condition. A local gravitational system also exhibits certain invariances under time dilation and spatial contractions upon boosts. For composite body sources, interior effacement is manifest in General Relativity as well, leaving a single mass-energy parameter to represent the body in its spherical limit. By enforcing to all orders these properties of gravity which seem to hold in nature, a new method using linear algebraic scaling equations is developed which generates by an iterative process an N-body Lagrangian expansion for gravity which fulfills the mentioned properties --- exterior and interior effacement, and the time dilation and Lorentz contraction features of special relativity. The algebraic method is then used to produce the N-body gravity Lagrangian to the 1/c^4 order of expansion.

Speaker: Kenneth Nordtvedt (Montana State University)

Slides Nordtvedt.pdf

15:20 → 16:00 Stellar entropy and stellar evolution

Evolution of entropy in stellar systems

Speaker: Jorge Horvath (IAG-USP)

Slides Horvath.pdf

16:00 → 16:20 Coffee break / Poster Session

16:20 → 16:50 Effect of a primordial magnetic field on the dissipation coefficient in a warm inflation scenario

Magnetic fields appear everywhere in the universe. Their widespread presence at high redshifts and very large scales suggests that their origin could be primordial. In particular, their presence during the inflationary epoch can certainly not be ruled out. In the warm inflation scenario, the coupling of the inflaton to other bosonic and fermionic fields gives rise to dissipative effects that modify the inflationary dynamics. Since primordial magnetic fields could have an effect on both the effective inflationary potential and the inflaton decay process, their contribution must be considered together with the finite temperature corrections. We review here their effect on the inflationary potential and present preliminary results of their intervention in the dissipation process.

Speaker: Gabriella Piccinelli (Centro Tecnológico, FES Aragón, UNAM, México)

Slides Piccinelli.pdf

16:50 → 17:30 Super-Eddington accretion onto neutron stars and black holes

I will present most recent results, not yet published, concerning the super-Eddington accretion onto neutron stars and black holes. In the case of neutron stars, a new phenomenon is predicted: a levitating atmosphere. In the case of black holes, the Polish Doughnut model for super critical accretion is critically revisited.

Speaker: Maciek Wielgus (Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, Polish Academy of Sciences)

Slides Wielgus.pdf

17:30 → 18:00 Galileons and Black Holes

I will discuss spherically symmetric solutions of hypothetical scalar field "galileon" models, first in flat space-time, and then in the context of general relativity. For the latter, using numerical methods, I find both censored and naked solutions arising from physically reasonable boundary conditions. Both types of solutions are of comparable non-zero measure in terms of the initial conditions. Censored solutions exhibit event horizons, more or less as expected, while naked solutions have curvature singularities without horizons.

Speaker: Thomas Curtright

Slides Curtright.pdf

18:00 → 18:30 Gas-induced Mergers of Massive Black Holes

Black Hole Astrophysics - Gravitational Radiation - Galactic Mergers

Speaker: Andres Escala (Universidad de Chile)

19:00 → 20:00 Welcome reception

Monday, 11 May

09:00 → 09:40 Status of the LHC experiments and Standard Model results

The talk will report on selected Standard Model (SM) physics highlights obtained by the ATLAS and CMS experiments in the first 3 years of data taking at the new Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. By far the most important and exciting result of LHC Run1 has been the observation of a new boson with a mass of 125 GeV, consistent with the properties of the SM Higgs boson. The discovery of the Higgs boson has brought the last missing piece of the Standard Model but the talk will give also an overview of the main results on di-boson production, heavy flavour physics (b-quark rare decays and CP violation; top-quark mass and properties) and QCD. Finally a brief discussion on LHC future program. LHC is just now restarting operation at higher energy. New data will certainly give more detailed informations on the Higgs boson and by the end of this decade LHC experiments will have collected ten times more proton proton collisions. The Standard Model processes have been holding up to scrutiny over several orders of magnitude in production cross section but we are just at the beginning of the TeV scale exploration.

Speaker: Cristina Biino (INFN Torino (IT))

Slides Biino.pdf

09:40 → 10:20 Search for new physics at the LHC and prospects for new discoveries

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN has allowed the ATLAS and CMS experiments to collect a large amount of proton-proton collision data at 7 TeV and 8 TeV centre-of-mass energies. This dataset was used to discover a Standard Model (SM) Higgs-like boson at a mass of about 125 GeV. Beside this, an impressive number of searches for deviations from the SM expectations have been carried out in various physics areas including: Higgs, SuperSymmetry (SUSY) and Exotics physics. Representative searches in all of these domains will be presented and their impact on theories “beyond the SM” assessed. To date, there is no evidence in the LHC data of a deviation from the SM. However, a few legacy 2-3 sigma deviations remain from both experiments, which will be reviewed. After an 18-month shutdown, the LHC is about to deliver collision data at an increased centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. It will be a very exciting time for both the ATLAS and CMS experiments to confirm or rule out the existing deviations from the SM. In addition, the large increase in collision energy will allow much improved sensitivity in various searches, in particular for high mass particles.

Speaker: Geraldine Conti (CERN)

Slides 20150511_STARS2015_GConti.pdf

10:20 → 10:40 Coffee break / Poster Session

10:40 → 11:20 LHCb results in proton-nucleus collisions at the LHC

The production of J/ψ and Υ-mesons decaying into dimuon final state is studied at the LHCb experiment, with rapidity 1.5 < y < 4.0 or -5.0 < y < -2.5 and transverse momentum pT < 15 GeV/c, in proton-lead collisions at a proton-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 5 TeV. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.6/nb. The forward-backward production ratio and the nuclear modification factor are determined for J/ψ and Υ(1S). Indication of forward backward production asymmetry is observed. There is also an indication of J/ψ and Υ(1S) production suppression with respect to proton-proton collisions in forward region and anti-shadowing effect in backward region. Results on vector boson production are also presented.

Speaker: Katharina Mueller (Universitaet Zuerich (CH))

Slides Mueller.pdf

11:20 → 12:00 Discoveries at GSI, FAiR, BNL and CERN

Upcoming experiments at GSI, FAiR, BNL and CERN are discussed. Special emphasis is given to the discovery potential for exotic Phases of Dense Matter. The role of the accelerator experiments for understanding Neutron Star NS and Supernova SN dynamics is critically reviewed.

Speaker: Horst Stoecker (Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies - FIAS and Institut fuer Theoretische Physik - ITP, Frankfurt am Main, Germany)

12:00 → 12:30 Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA)

Gamma-ray astronomy holds a great potential for Astrophysics, Particle Physics and Cosmology. The CTA is an international initiative to build the next generation of ground- based gamma-ray observatories, which will represent a factor of 5-10x improvement in the sensitivity of observations in the range 100 GeV - 10 TeV, as well as an extension of the observational capabilities down to energies below 100 GeV and beyond 100 TeV. The array will consist of two telescope networks (one in the Northern Hemisphere and another in the South) so to achieve a full-sky coverage, and will be composed by a hybrid system of 4 different telescope types. It will operate as an observatory, granting open access to the community through call for submission of proposals competing for observation time. The CTA will give us access to the non-thermal and high-energy universe at an unprecedented level, and will be one of the main instruments for high-energy astrophysics and astroparticle physics of the next 30 years. CTA has now entered its prototyping phase with the first, stand-alone instruments being built. Brazil is an active member of the CTA consortium, and the project is represented in Latin America also by Argentina, Mexico and Chile. In the next few months the consortium will define the site for installation of CTA South, which might come to be hosted in the Chilean Andes, with important impact for the high-energy community in Latin America. In this talk we will present the basic concepts of the CTA and the detailed project of the observatory. Emphasis will be put on its scientific potential and on the Latin-American involvement in the preparation and construction of the observatory whose first seed, the ASTRI mini-array, is currently being constructed in Sicily, in a cooperation between Italy, Brazil and South Africa. ASTRI should be installed on the final CTA site in 2016, whereas the full CTA array is expected to be operational by the end of the decade.

Speaker: Ulisses Barres de Almeida (Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas)

12:30 → 14:00 Lunch break

14:00 → 14:40 Galaxy Evolution observed with MOS at the E-ELT

The European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) is the current 1st priority flagship project of European ground-based Astronomy in the optical and NIR. After completion in 2024, the E-ELT will be the most advanced and most sensitive facility for diffraction limited imaging and spectroscopy with a giant aperture for the next decades to come. MOSAIC is a conceptual idea to exploit this sensitivity for multiobject spectroscopy (MOS), covering the full range of E-ELT science and including input from a broad cross-section of astronomers across the ESO partner countries. I will highlight cases relating to studies of high-redshift galaxies, galaxy evolution, and stellar populations. A general requirement is the need for two observational modes to best exploit the large (≥40 arcmin2) patrol field of the E-ELT. The first mode (‘high multiplex’) requires integrated-light (or coarsely resolved) optical/near-IR spectroscopy of >100 objects simultaneously. The second (‘high definition’), enabled by wide-field adaptive optics, requires spatially-resolved, near-IR of >10 objects/sub-fields.

Speaker: Martin Roth

Slides Roth1.pdf

14:40 → 15:20 The SOFIA airborne observatory and its potential of magnetic field measurement in star forming regions

SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, is a Boeing 747SP, equipped with a 2.7m telescope that flies at an altitude of 12-14 km (above the tropopause) to observe the far-infrared radiation from space which does not reach ground-based observatories due to absorption by water vapor. One of the SOFIA instruments is HAWC-pol, a far-infrared camera with 5 filters (50-200 micron) which was built to observe the far-infrared polarized dust emission in cold molecular gas clouds, particularly in star forming regions. As the dust grains align in the presence of interstellar magnetic fields, this allows to derive the structure and strength of magnetic fields in star forming regions on scales of 10 arc sec (4000 AU at the distance of the Orion nebula). This is new, because the Herschel satellite did not include a polarimetric instrument. We will describe SOFIA and its potential to make important magnetic field measurement in galactic clouds, important to understand the role of magnetic fields in star formation.

Speaker: Hans Zinnecker (Univ. Stuttgart)

Slides Zinnecker.pdf

15:20 → 16:00 Latest results from the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory addresses the most fundamental questions about the nature and origin of the highest-energy cosmic rays. The data taken with the Pierre Auger Observatory have already led to a number of major breakthroughs in the field contributing to the advance of our understanding of these extremely energetic particles. The spectrum and the arrival direction distribution are key observables to search for sources or source regions of ultra-high energy cosmic rays, and for the transition from Galactic to extragalactic cosmic rays. In this talk we address the results obtained by the Pierre Auger Observatory on the studies of these observables, after having recently completed ten years of continuous data taking. We present the latest results on the energy spectrum, and of the studies of anisotropies performed on the ten-year data set of arrival directions of cosmic rays at large and small angular scales. We also address the plans and motivations for the future upgrade of the Pierre Auger Observatory.

Speaker: Carola Dobrigkeit (UNICAMP, Brazil)

Slides Dobrigkeit.pdf

16:00 → 16:20 Coffee break / Poster Session

16:20 → 16:50 Mass measurements with the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is the largest ultra-high energy cosmic ray experiment built so far. It is a hybrid detector, since it measures both the fluorescence light emitted while the air-showers develop in the atmosphere and the particles reaching the ground.  We present the results related to the mass composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays as obtained from both types of measurements. The depth at which the maximum of the electromagnetic development takes places and its fluctuations are the most sensitive parameters to infer the nature of the cosmic rays.  The surface detector gives complementary variables as the depth at which the production of muons is maximal, the signal rise times and their asymmetries. We address the evolution of these parameters with energy, their systematic uncertainties and how they can also be used to constrain models of hadronic interactions at energies larger than those reached at LHC.

Speaker: Laura Molina Bueno (Universidad de Granada)

Slides Molina.pdf

16:50 → 17:30 Supernovae shed light on Gamma-Ray Bursts

We review the observational status of the Supernova/Gamma-Ray Burst connection. Most observations collected in the last 15 years show that long duration Gamma-ray Bursts are associated with broad lines SNe-LBC, although a few exceptions do exist. Current estimates of the SN and GRB rates yield a ratio GRB/SNe-LBC less (or much less) than 3%. We discuss the reasons for this small ratio.

Speaker: Massimo Della Valle (Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte - Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica - INAF, Napoli, Italy)

Slides DellaValle.pdf

Tuesday, 12 May

09:00 → 09:40 Tomography of a quark gluon plasma, created in heavy ion collisions, by heavy mesons

During a ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions a plasma of quarks and gluons (QGP) may be created, a state of matter which may also be present in the center of neutron stars. The problem is to verify its existence because at the end only hadrons are present. We expose why heavy mesons may be a good tool to study the existence and the properties of the QGP and present the results we obtained in comparison with the experiments.

Speaker: Joerg Aichelin (Subatech/CNRS)

Slides Aichelin.pdf

09:40 → 10:20 From cold to hot nuclear matter

We discuss the properties of nuclear matter at different conditions: from "cold" at normal nuclear density to the very "hot" and compressed state of Quark-Gluon-Plazma. Those conditions are realized at relativistic proton-nucleus and heavy-ion collisions. As a "tool" for our study we use the Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) microscopic transport approach, which elaborates the partonic and hadronic dynamics, and investigate the constraints which can be obtained from experimental observables on the EoS (equation-of-state) of nuclear matter, the baryon potential and in-medium properties of the hadrons.

Speaker: Elena Bratkovskaya (FIAS)

Slides Bratkovskaya.pdf

10:20 → 10:40 Coffee break / Poster Session

10:40 → 11:20 Hybrid modelling of relativistic heavy ion collisions

We review current concepts and models used to describe the evolution of the hot and dense matter created in heavy ion collisions at LHC, RHIC and FAIR. To this aim, we will discuss recent extensions of transport models based on the Boltzmann equation to include a hydrodynamical stage that allows for a consistent treatment of all stages of the reaction, including a phase transition to a QGP. Then we discuss how a dynamical model for the exploration of the critical point of QCD and the phase transition can be constructed and present results for a broad variety of observables for heavy ion collisions at FAIR, RHIC and LHC.

Speaker: Marcus Bleicher (Uni Frankfurt & FIAS)

Slides Bleicher.pdf

11:20 → 12:00 Autonomous spacecraft navigation with pulsars

An external reference system suitable for deep space navigation can be defined by fast spinning and strongly magnetized neutron stars. Their beamed periodic signals have timing stabilities comparable to atomic clocks and provide characteristic temporal signatures that can be used as natural navigation beacons, quite similar to the use of GPS satellites for navigation on Earth. By comparing pulse arrival times measured on-board a spacecraft with predicted pulse arrivals at a reference location, the spacecraft position can be determined autonomously and with high accuracy everywhere in the solar system and beyond. The unique properties of pulsars make clear already today that such a navigation system will have its application in future astronautics. In my talk we will describe the basic principle of spacecraft navigation using pulsars and report on the current development status of this novel technology.

Speaker: Werner Becker (Max Planck fur Extraterrestrische Physik - MPE, Garching, Germany)

12:00 → 12:30 Compact stars on the brane: what could they reveal about extra dimensions?

According to braneworld models the observable universe could be restricted to a 1+3 surface (a “brane” where Standard Model particles and fields are trapped) embedded in a higher dimensional spacetime (the “bulk”) that can be accessed by gravity. In this work we investigate the properties of compact stars in the Randall-Sundrum II type braneworld. Adopting the well established BPS equation of state below a fiducial density, and a causal equation of state above it, we solve the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations on the brane and obtain the causal limit for stellar configurations in the mass-radius diagram. Such limit is different to the one obtained within the frame of general relativity due to local and nonlocal extra-dimensional modifications to the structure equations on the brane. We analyse the properties of quark and hadronic stars using the MIT bag model and a relativistic mean-field model for the equation of state. We examine the stability of the stellar configurations and discuss smoking guns for extra dimensions that could emerge from future compact star observations.

Speaker: German Lugones (UFABC)

Slides Lugones.pdf

12:30 → 14:00 Lunch break

14:00 → 14:40 Braking index of Young Neutron Stars

Braking index of Young Neutron Stars.

Speaker: Rodrigo Negreiros (Universidade Federal Fluminense)

Slides Negreiros.pdf

14:40 → 15:20 Magneto-rotational and thermal evolution of near-by young neutron stars

We perform population synthesis of near-by (up to a few kpc) young (less than a few Myrs) neutron stars. We consider objects observable in soft X-rays due to their thermal surface emission. Observations demonstrate than about a dozen of young cooling neutron stars are observed int he solar vicinity. They represent two populations: radio pulsars and so-called "Magnificent Seven". We study how properties of these sources can be reproduced in different models of cooling (including different EoS of neutron stars) and field evolution. We demonstrate that despite the Log N - Log S distribution can be reproduced in different models, it is not easy to reproduce the P-Pdot distribution without fine tuning of the initial magnetic field distribution or selection effects.

Speaker: Sergei Popov (Moscow State University)

Slides Popov1.pdf

15:20 → 16:00 Achievements in solar neutrino physics with the Borexino detector

Borexino is an organic liquid scintillator detector located in the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in the central Italy. It has been designed for real-time spectroscopy of low energy solar neutrinos. In Phase I of the experiment lasting for three years, between May 2007 and May 2010, the Collaboration performed the first independent measurements of 7Be, 8B and pep solar neutrino fluxes. After a dedicated purification campaign of the liquid scintillator in 2011 Borexino entered into Phase II, which allowed to investigate the seasonal modulation in the 7Be signal. In 2014 Borexino provided the first direct real time measurement of pp neutrinos accomplishing the whole pp-cycle that powers the Sun.

Speaker: Lino Miramonti (Physics Department of Milano University and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare - INFN, Italy)

Slides Miramonti.pdf

16:00 → 16:20 Coffee break / Poster Session

16:20 → 16:50 The Mass and Radius of Compact Object in 4U 1746-37

Photospheric radius expansion (PRE) bursts have already been used to constrain the masses and radii of neutron stars. *RXTE* observed three PRE bursts in 4U 1746-37, all with low touchdown fluxes. We discuss here the possibility of low mass neutron star in 4U 1746-37 because the Eddington luminosity depends on stellar mass. With typical values of hydrogen mass fraction and color correction factor, a Monte-Carlo simulation was applied to constrain the mass and radius of neutron star in 4U 1746-37. 4U 1746-37 has a high inclination angle. Two geometric effects, the reflection of the far side accretion disc and the obscuration of the near side accretion disc have also been included in the mass and radius constraints of 4U 1746-37. If the reflection of the far side accretion disc is accounted, a low mass compact object (mass of $0.41\pm0.14~M_{\odot}$ and radius of $8.73\pm1.54~\rm km$ at 68% confidence) exists in 4U 1746-37. If another effect operated, 4U 1746-37 may contain an ultra low mass and small radius object ($M=0.21\pm0.06~M_{\odot},~R=6.26\pm0.99~\rm km$ at 68% confidence). Combined all possibilities, the mass of 4U 1746-37 is $0.41^{+0.70}_{-0.30}~M_\odot$ at 99.7% confidence. For such low mass NS, it could be reproduced by a self-bound compact star, i.e., quark star or quark-cluster star.

Speaker: Zhaosheng Li (Peking University)

Slides Zhaosheng.pdf

20:00 → 21:00 Gala Dinner

Wednesday, 13 May

09:00 → 12:00 Free morning

12:00 → 14:00 Trip to Varadero

14:00 → 14:30 Welcome Reception

14:30 → 15:30 Lunch

15:30 → 18:00 Free afternoon

Thursday, 14 May

09:30 → 10:00 On the large field stability in the electroweak model

The magnetic field dependence of vacuum energy of the Weinberg-Salam model (WSM) is investigated. It follows that the W particles contribution makes the full potential positive for extremely large fields. This changes the situation with respect to QED. Thus, the asymptotic freedom of this theory helps to solve the undesirable negative values of the Heisenberg-Euler potential at large magnetic fields in QED. The one loop potential monotonically grows up to a critical magnetic field corresponding to a non abelian instability associated to the W fields.

Speaker: Alejandro Cabo Montes de Oca (ICIMAF)

Slides Cabo.pdf

10:00 → 10:30 Collapsing quantum relativistic electron gas. A model for some jets?

For critical and supercritical magnetic fields electrons and even photons behave as one dimensional particles, leading to vanishing transverse pressures. The outcome suggests a collapsing behavior orthogonal to the magnetic field, leading to long objects. We conjecture they may have a connection with jets in astrophysics.

Speaker: Hugo Pérez Rojas (Institute of Cybernetics, Mathematics and Physics)

Slides PerezRojas.pdf

10:30 → 11:00 Coffee break

11:00 → 11:30 Axion Photon Scalar QED analogy, photon and axion spitting in strong magnetic fields

A Scalar QED analogy is possible for the photon axion system that allows to describe axion photon spitting in strong magnetic fields. Results from these analysis have been used recently to claim evidence for axion like particles from the sun. Also possible photon splitting effects could appear in pulsars, we will review this subject

Speaker: Eduardo Guendelman (Ben Gurion University)

Slides Guendelman2.pdf

11:30 → 11:45 Chiral Magnetic Effect in QED induced by longitudinal photons

We demonstrate the existence of the chiral magnetic effect inan electron-positron magnetized gas. A pseudo-vector(conserved)Ohm current is induced by the electric field related to the longitudinal QED mode propagating parallel to the external magnetic field and separating opposite charges of the same heliticity. From a relation between axial and electromagnetic currents we obtain a non-conserved current leading to an expression close to the usual axial anomaly. The effect is interesting in connection to the QCD chiral magnetic case reported in current literature.

Speaker: Jorge Luis Acosta Avalo (INSTEC)

Slides Acosta.pdf

11:45 → 12:00 Propagation of photon in a diluted medium moving parallel to the magnetic field: Faraday rotation angle

The dispersion equations for photons moving parallel to a constant magnetic field are solved for diluted magnetized gas. The quantum Faraday angle is obtained for a quantum relativistic diluted gas in the strong field limit as well as in the weak field approximation. Applications to the photon propagation in the magnetosphere of neutron stars are discussed.

Speakers: Dr Aurora Pérez Martínez (ICIMAF), Lidice Cruz Rodríguez (Havana University)

Slides Cruz.pdf

12:00 → 12:15 Revisited Magnetized White Dwarfs

We discuss the structure of Magnetized White Dwarfs by considering anisotropic equations of state (EoS) as well as the anisotropic equation of hydrostatic equilibrium. Specifically, we examine the weak and strong magnetic field limits. For weak magnetic field values ($B < B_c \sim 10^{13} G$) we obtain the EoS through an Euler-MacLaurin expansion of the thermodynamic potential. Whereas in the strong field regime ($B>B_c$) we use a polytropic parametrization of the numerical relativistic EoS. Our approach aims to have more treatable EoS and therefore facilitate the study of: 1) microscopic effects such as beta inverse decay and the pycnonuclear fusion reaction, 2) macroscopic consequences related to solutions of anisotropic structure equations, and 3) bound on the magnetic field imposed by the scalar Virial theorem.

Speakers: Diana Alvear Terrero (Facultad de Física, Universidad de La Habana), Miguel Castillo García (Facultad de Física, Universidad de la Habana)

Slides Alvear.pdf

12:15 → 12:30 Natural and artificial radiation dose and its correlation with carcinogenesis

We include, in the observed correlation [1] between lifetime cancer risk and the accumulative number of steem cell divisions in a tissue, a new variable related to the effective radiation dose received by that tissue. Computed natural radiation dose is compared with data contained in the Report [2], whereas the artificial (man made) radiation dose is taken from [2]. [1] C. Tomasetti and B. Vogelstein, Science 2 JANUARY 2015, VOL 347, ISSUE 6217, pag 78. [2] Ionizing Radiation Exposure of the Population of the United States, NCRP REPORT No. 160, March 3, 2009

Speaker: Dario León (Facultad de Física, Universidad de La Habana)

Slides Leon.pdf

12:30 → 15:00 Lunch break

15:00 → 15:30 Natural background radiation and mutagenesis in bacteria

We suggest a possible correlation between the ionization events caused by the natural background radiation and the experimental data on mutations with damage in the DNA repair mechanism, coming from the Long Term Evolution Experiment in E. Coli populations.

Speaker: Augusto González (Instituto de Cibernética, Matemática y Física, La Habana)

Slides Gonzalez.pdf

15:30 → 16:00 The stellar explosion threats during the evolution of a habitable planet

Habitable planets, stellar explosions, the role of O2/O3 system, biological implications

Speaker: Osmel Martin

Slides Martin.pdf

16:00 → 16:30 Evolution of magnetic fields in accreting neutron star systems

Evolution of magnetic fields in accreting neutron star systems

Speaker: Jorge Horvath (IAG-USP)

Slides Horvath2.pdf

16:30 → 17:00 Coffee break / Poster Session

Friday, 15 May

09:30 → 10:00 Super Chandrasekhar masses for magnetized WD?

The problem of the maximum masses of magnetized White Dwarfs (WD) is revisited considering the impact of a strong magnetic field onto the structure equations. The magnetic field splits the pressure in parallel and perpendicular one. Firstly we will present stable solutions of TOV equations for the parallel pressures, and physical solutions vanish for the perpendicular pressure when $B > 10^{13} G$. This fact establishes an upper bound for a magnetic field and the stability of the configurations in the (quasi) spherical approximation. Our findings also indicate that it is not possible to obtain stable magnetized WD with super Chandrasekhar masses because the values of the magnetic field needed for them are higher than this bound. Secondly we show structure equations in a cylindrical metric which are appropriate for the anisotropies. The solutions of these equations confirm the same bound for $B \sim 10^ {13} G$, since beyond this value no physical solutions are possible. Our tentative conclusion is that massive WD, with masses well beyond the Chandrasekhar limit do not constitute stable solutions and should not exist.

Speaker: Daryel Manreza Paret (Facultad de Fisica Universidad de la Habana)

Slides Manreza.pdf

10:00 → 10:30 The effects of superhigh magnetic fields on equation of state of a neutron stars

Based on our previous work, we deduce a general formula for pressure of degenerate and relativistic electrons, $P_{e}$, which is suitable for superhigh magnetic fields, discuss the quantization of Landau levels of electrons, and consider the quantum electrodynamic(QED) effects on the equations of states (EOSs) for different matter systems. The main conclusions are as follows: $P_{e}$ is related to the magnetic field $B$, matter density $\rho$, and electron fraction $Y_{e}$; the stronger the magnetic field, the higher the electron pressure becomes; the high electron pressure could be caused by high Fermi energy of electrons in a superhigh magnetic field; compared with a common radio pulsar, a magnetar could be a more compact oblate spheroid-like deformed neutron star due to the anisotropic total pressure; and an increase in the maximum mass of a magnetar is expected because of the positive contribution of the magnetic field energy to the EOS of the star.

Speakers: Gao Zhi Fu (Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Wang Na (Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

10:30 → 11:00 Coffee break / Poster session

11:00 → 11:30 Ultraluminous X-ray pulsar: accreting magnetar?

Magnetars are neutron stars powered by their superstrong magnetic field. The discovery of low magnetic field magnetars etc has deeped our understanding of magnetars. Accreting normal neutron stars are discovery 40 years ago. However, no strong evidence for the existence of accreting magnetars are found up to now. Recently, an ultraluminous X-ray source powered by an accreting neutron star is discoveryed (Bachetti et al. 2014, Nature, 514, 202). It may be an accreting magnetar candidate. For an aged magnetar, it is more like to be a low magnetic field magnetar. An accreting low magnetic field magnetar may explain both the radiative and timing observations of the ultraluminous X-ray pulsar. Combined with previous researches, three signatures of accreting magnetar are available at present: (1) magnetar-like bursts, (2) a hard X-ray tail, and (3) an ultraluminous X-ray pulsar.

Speaker: Hao Tong (Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Slides Tong.pdf

11:30 → 12:00 Constraining Globular Cluster Intermediate-Mass Black Hole masses with Crowded Field 3D Spectroscopy – an update from the ESO VLT

Over the last 10-15 years there has been a rapid development of the technique of integral field spectroscopy (IFS) in the optical and NIR at 4-8m telescopes, with high impact on the study of the evolution of galaxies, e.g. surveys like SAURON, ALTAS3D, CALIFA. Beyond the mere 2-dimensional mapping of extended objects, we have begun to explore the potential of IFS for PSF-fitting 3D spectrophotometry in crowded fields, an area harboring one of the most competitive edges of future extremely large telescopes. As shown with a previous pilot study at Calar Alto Observatory, observations of globular clusters with high multiplex gain using 3D spectroscopy has allowed us to determine velocity dispersions in the innermost region, i.e. within radii of 1.5 arcsec, which is the crucial region to constrain Jeans models and, thereby, the mass of a hypothetical intermediate mass black hole (IMBH). With the commissioning of the MUSE instrument at the ESO Very Large Telescope Observatory in 2014, these opportunities have grown to unprecedented capabilities. The latest developments for extremely high multiplex spectroscopy in globular clusters to constrain IMBH masses will be reported.

Speaker: Martin Roth

Slides Roth2.pdf

12:00 → 12:30 Magnetic field decay in radio pulsars

We apply a new method to probe evolution of the magnetic field of normal radio pulsars in the range of ages from several tens of thousand years to several hundred thousand years. It is demonstrated that in the period ~80000-300000 years the field decay by a factor ~2. We discuss how this evolution can be related to the Hall cascade and Hall attractor.

Speaker: Sergei Popov (Moscow State University)

Slides Popov2.pdf

12:30 → 15:00 Lunch break

15:00 → 15:30 Tidal disruption events

A hundred years ago, when Karl Schwartzchild wrote his famous metric, he didn’t imagine that a monster, a black hole, is hidden within this metric and this monster can tidally disrupt and swallow a whole star. This question, how does a stellar tidal disruption by a black hole was addressed for the first time in the eighties and recently within the last decade we begun observing such events. The observations confirmed some of the basic ideas, but posed new puzzles. I examine the recent observations of Tidal Disruption Event (TDEs) candidates. I confront the theory with the observations and present a new model for these events. I discuss new puzzles that arise and their resolutions.

Speaker: Tsvi Piran (The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel)

Slides Piran2.pdf

15:30 → 16:00 Simulations of accretion disks in pseudo-complex General Relativity

After a brief résumé on pseudo-complex General Relativity (pc-GR), circular orbits and stable orbits in general are discussed, including predictions compared to observations. Using a modified version of a model for accretions disks, presented by Page and Thorne, we apply the raytracing technique, in order to simulate the appearance of an accretion disk as it appears in a detector. In pc-GR we predict a dark ring near a very massive, rapidly rotating object.

Speaker: Peter Hess

16:00 → 16:30 Concluding Remarks

Speaker: Jorge Horvath (IAG-USP)

16:30 → 17:00 Coffee break / Poster session

17:00 → 17:30 Albert Einstein Prize / Next events / Conclusion

21:00 → 23:00 Conference Dinner

Saturday, 16 May

09:00 → 12:30 Free Morning

12:30 → 15:00 Lunch

15:00 → 17:00 Trip to Havana