Letters of Intent received in 2016

LoI 2018-1905
Non-GA Symposium: Laboratory Astrophysics: from Observations to Interpretation

Topics

1- Star formation in the near universe: contribution of laboratory astrophysics toward the understanding and the planning of astronomical observations (ALMA Herschel, JWST, Spitzer, SOFIA, Gaia)
2- Solar System formation and the pre-solar nebula: contribution of laboratory astrophysics toward the understanding and the planning of astronomical observations (Osiris REx, Stardust, Rosetta, Plank microgravity).
3- Stellar & solar systems: contribution of laboratory astrophysics toward the understanding and the planning of astronomical observations (Soho, Juno, Cassini, New Horizons, EELT, GMT, VLT)
4- Stars, stellar populations and the cosmic matter cycle: contribution of laboratory astrophysics toward the understanding and the planning of astronomical observations (ALMA, Herschel, SKA, VLT, EELT, GMT, Gaia)
5- Reaching beyond our galaxy: from extra galactic chemistry to dark matter: contribution of laboratory astrophysics toward the understanding and the planning of extragalactic observations (EET, OWL, SKA, WFIRST, JWST, Euclid, radio astronomy).

Rationale

Astronomy is witnessing a new and exciting era of discovery with the advent of new powerful telescopes (e.g., ALMA) and the imminent launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which all promise to push the frontiers of science. Advances in Astronomy, however, are not solely the domain of the observational astronomer, but rely heavily on the diagnostics and expertise provided by the wider physics and chemistry communities whether through detector development, spectroscopy, models or studies of astrophysical processes. Thus, our quest to understand the cosmos rests firmly on theoretical and experimental research in many different branches of science, which taken together, are known as laboratory astrophysics. Laboratory astrophysics provides the tools to interpret and to guide astronomical observations and delivers the numbers needed to quantitatively model the processes taking place in space; it offers a bridge between observers and modelers. It is timely to organize a Symposium to assess the past, current and future contribution of laboratory astrophysics to astronomy and how to best prepare to address the key science questions that will undoubtedly come with the new astronomical data. Thus, the main goal of the proposed Symposium will be to connect Laboratory Astrophysicists with Astronomers by bringing together expert data providers and data users of laboratory and astronomical data and to ensure their effective integration. With the establishment of IAU Commission B5 in Laboratory Astrophysics in the IAU GA in 2015, we now have the ideal opportunity and the tool to bring the broad astronomy community together with the laboratory astrophysicists in a dedicated symposium where the participants will benefit from each other expertise as well as become aware of each other’s needs.

The proposed Symposium is intended to synthesize the state-of-the art of the field of laboratory astrophysics, and discuss open questions to be solved in the next decade. In particular, the meeting will stress how laboratory studies can best address the needs of astronomy and stimulate new observations. The proposed Symposium will be divided into sessions centered around astronomical environments starting from the processes that govern star birth, through pre-solar environments, to (exo)-planetary systems, planetary atmospheres and our own Sun, through star death and stellar populations and the chemistry and physics of the nearby universe, right to high redshift galaxies. As a result, the Symposium will discuss atomic and molecular data, plasma physics, nuclear physics, and particle physics and their application to various fields, such as interplanetary, interstellar, and intergalactic matter, (exo) planetary and stellar atmospheres. The common objective of all sessions is to help maximize the science return from current and upcoming major astronomical telescopes with special attention to flagship missions such as ALMA, Rosetta, HST and JWST. This proposed Symposium is envisioned as the first in a series of a 3 - 5 year cycle of IAU symposia. Participation by students, under-represented groups, and members of emerging countries will be encouraged.

This will be a truly multidisciplinary symposium that will bring together astronomers with theoretical and experimental chemists and physicists to discuss the state-of-the-art research in their respective disciplines and how their combined expertise can address important open questions in astronomy and astrophysics that derive from astronomical observations with new instruments. We have experienced at the last IAU GA in Hawaii that there is a broad audience among IAU members belonging to a wide spectrum of IAU Commissions and Divisions who would be genuinely interested in this Symposium (see attached Appendix).

We have identified a number of themes that can be contained in a program held over 5 days, and are structured in a morning or afternoon session for each, one of which will be on ‘hot topics’. Under each theme there will be a review of the field followed by presentations of recent results. Ample time will be devoted to discussions. The program chairs will be instructed to identify the challenges and to stimulate discussion on ways in which the field may advance through contributions by astronomers, theoreticians and experimentalists. Following IAU guidelines and goals of Commission B5, we will include speakers from the wider community to ensure gender and geographic balance as well as an appropriate balance of junior and senior speakers.

Appendix: The proposed Symposium is expected to attract a wide audience within the IAU as illustrated by the large number of IAU Divisions and Commissions that would potentially benefit from the output generated by the proposed Symposium:
Home Division: Division B Facilities, Technologies and Data Science
Home Commission: Commission 5 Laboratory Astrophysics
Commission B4 Radio Astronomy - Commission B2 Data and Documentation
Commission B1 Computational Astrophysics
Other Divisions:
Division D High Energy Phenomena and Fundamental Physics
Inter-Division D-G-H-J Commission: Galaxy Spectral Energy Distributions
Division E Sun and Heliosphere
Commission E3: Solar impact throughout the Heliosphere
Division F Planetary Systems and Bioastronomy
Commission F1 Meteors, Meteorites and Interplanetary Dust
Commission F2 Exoplanets and the Solar system - Commission F3 Astrobiology
Division G Stars and Stellar Physics
Commission G5 Stellar and Planetary atmospheres
Division H Interstellar Matter and Local Universe
Commission H2: Astrochemistry - Commission H3: Planetary Nebulae

Nominations for the members of a candidate SOC:
Farid Salama, USA – Chair
Paul Barklem, Sweden
Helen Fraser, United Kingdom
Thomas Henning, Germany
Sun Kwok, China
Harold Linnartz, Netherlands
Tom Millar, United Kingdom
Gianfranco Vidali, USA
Feilu Wang, China