KIPAC@20: A conference celebrating 20 years of KIPAC

We are thrilled to host KIPAC@20, a conference celebrating 20 years of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

KIPAC@20 took place from Tuesday September 12 to Friday September 15, 2023, in the Kavli Building at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, with an opening reception on Monday September 11. 

KIPAC@20 will explore recent advances across diverse fields of astrophysics and cosmology, and prospects for breakthroughs in the coming decade, broadly organized into five sessions:

  • Mapping the Sky
  • Transformative Technologies
  • The Extreme and Variable Universe
  • Data-driven Discovery
  • KIPAC in the World

Each of the sessions is broadly defined, and will bring together topics in cosmology, galactic and stellar astronomy, high energy astrophysics, exoplanets, fundamental physics, data science, instrumentation, and beyond. In addition, the program will explore the crossover between astrophysics research, data science, technology, and wider industry as we invite our KIPAC alumni to share some of the many paths they have followed.

Schedule

KIPAC@20 will begin with a welcome reception the evening of Monday, September 11. Sessions will begin the morning of Tuesday September 12 and the conference will conclude at lunchtime on Friday September 15.

KIPAC@20 will take place in the Fred Kavli Building (FKB, Building 51) at SLAC, with the main talk program taking place in the auditorium on the ground floor. We will also be live-streaming the conference program via Zoom.

Monday, September 11

  • 17:30-19:30 Welcome reception (FKB patio)

Tuesday, September 12

  • 8:00-8:45 Breakfast available (FKB patio)
  • 8:45-9:00 Opening remarks
  • 9:00-12:30 Mapping the Sky
    • In this session, we explore how by mapping the sky across multiple wavelengths, we can understand the structure of our Universe on all scales, from the Milky Way out to large-scale structure and the CMB.
    • Session chair: Emmanuel Schaan
      • 9:00-9:30 3D dust mapping in the Milky Way - Greg Green (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy)
      • 9:30-10:30 The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, status and plans - Chihway Chang (U. Chicago/KICP) and Phil Marshall (SLAC)
      • 10:30-10:35 Poster highlights
      • Break
      • 11:00-11:30 Spectroscopic surveys for the mid-century - Juna Kollmeier (CITA)
      • 11:30-12:00 Line intensity mapping - Simon Foreman (Arizona State University)
      • 12:00-12:30 The cosmic microwave background: foundation and frontier of cosmology - Kimmy Wu (SLAC)
  • 12:30-14:00 Lunch
  • 14:00-17:30 Transformative Technologies
    • In this session, we explore how recent technological developments are revolutionizing the study of astronomy across multiple wavelengths and disciplines.
    • Session chair: Zeeshan Ahmed
      • 14:00-14:30 The Vera C. Rubin Observatory LSST Camera - Aaron Roodman (SLAC)
      • 14:30-15:00 Extremely Large Telescope programs - Rob Simcoe (MIT Kavli Institute)
      • 15:00-15:30 Future space missions and detector technologies - Sven Hermann (KIPAC)
      • 15:30-15:35 Poster highlights
      • Break
      • 16:00-16:30 Advances in astronomical adaptive optics - Jessica Lu (UC Berkeley)
      • 16:30-17:00 Superconducting Sensors across the EM Spectrum - Cyndia Yu (University of Chicago, KICP)
      • 17:00-17:30 Quantum sensing for dark matter - Saptarshi Chaudhuri (Princeton)
  • 17:30-19:00 Reception (FKB patio)

Wednesday, September 13

  • 8:00-9:00 Breakfast available (FKB patio)
  • 9:00-12:30 The Extreme and Variable Universe
    • In this session, we explore the frontiers of high energy astrophysics.
    • Session chair: Dan Wilkins
      • 9:00-9:30 High resolution X-ray spectroscopy with XRISM and beyond - Anna Ogorzalek (NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center)
      • 9:30-10:00 Building observatories to access the high-energy Universe - Stefan Funk (Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics)
      • 10:00-10:30 Multi-messengers from the high energy frontier - Ke Fang (U. Wisconsin)
      • 10:30-10:35 Poster highlights
    • Break
      • 11:00-11:30 Millihertz gravitational wave sources and short-timescale variables with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory - Kevin Burdge (MIT)
      • 11:30-12:00 Transient Science with DSA 2000 - Gregg Hallinan (Caltech)
      • 12:00-12:30 Transient astronomy and high energy astrophysics in the era of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory (discussion) - Kevin Burdge (MIT), Gregg Hallinan (Caltech), Krista Lynne Smith (Texas A&M)
  • 12:30-14:00 Lunch
  • 14:00-17:30 Free afternoon, including tours
  • 19:00-20:00 Public lecture

Thursday, September 14

  • 8:00-9:00 Breakfast available (FKB patio)
  • 9:00-9:30 Special update from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory
  • 9:30-13:00 Data-driven Discovery
    • Thursday September 14, 9:00-12:30
    • In this session, we explore how advances in the field of data science facilitate new realms of discovery within and beyond scientific research.
    • Session chair: Susan Clark
      • 9:30-10:00 Climate solutions - Kyle Story (Muon Space)
      • 10:00-10:30 Strong gravitational lensing in the era of data-driven algorithms - Yashar Hezaveh (Universite de Montreal)
      • 10:30-11:00 Experimental science x supercomputing - Debbie Bard (NERSC)
    • Break
      • 11:30-12:00 Synergies between overlapping cosmological surveys - Elisabeth Krause (University of Arizona)
      • 12:00-12:20 The emergence of the star-forming cosmic web - Dongwoo Chung (CITA/U. Toronto)
      • 12:20-12:40 Polarimetric profiles of pulsar wind nebulae - Josephine Wong (KIPAC)
      • 12:40-13:00 The PHANGS Survey: Resolving nearby galaxies into individual star-forming unitsJaeyeon Kim (KIPAC)
  • 13:00-14:00 Lunch
  • 15:30 Group photograph
  • 14:00-17:30 KIPAC in the World
    • KIPAC in the World explores the connections between research in astrophysics and the broader community, with talks from KIPAC alumni who have taken their skills into industry, and discussions about how we can improve the practice of scientific research.
    • Session chair: Pat Burchat
      • 14:00-14:30 NVIDIA'S HPC Developer Technology Group - Peng Wang (NVIDIA)
      • 14:30-15:00 Carbon dioxide removal through bio-oil sequestration - Edward Young (Charm Industrial)
      • 15:00-15:30 Human–Machine Collaboration for Improving Semiconductor Process Development - Yu Lu (Lam Research)
    • Break
      • 16:00-17:30 - Developing as compassionate scientists for the good of the world (a few KIPAC highlights, followed by discussion)
        • Bruce Macintosh (chair)
        • Risa Wechsler
        • Xinnan Du
        • Susan Clark
        • Yao-Yuan Mao
  • 18:30-21:00 Conference dinner

Friday, September 15

  • 8:00-9:00 Breakfast available (FKB patio)
  • 9:00-10:40 Snapshots of KIPAC research
    • This session showcases the breadth of research currently happening at KIPAC, with a number of short talks from KIPAC postdoctoral scholars and students.
    • Session chair: Dan Wilkins
      • Measuring Magnetic Flux on the Far-side of the Sun - Shea Hess-Webber
      • Detecting Gaps in Stellar Streams as a Probe for Dark Matter with the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope - Christian Aganze
      • Studying Galactic Inscriptions: what we can learn about the history of the Milky Way from dynamical perturbations - Elise Darragh-Ford
      • Learning real physics with fake universes - Sandy Yuan
      • Gaseous halos of spiral galaxies: feeding and feedback - Sanskriti Das
      • Cosmic Chemistry: Exploring The History of Cluster Enrichment with Current and Next-gen X-ray Telescopes - Anthony Flores
      • Mapping the Accretion onto Supermassive Black Holes through the Time Domain - Zhefu Yu
      • A rare case of strong lensing by a quasar - Martin Millon
      • What in the Galaxy is Scattering Cosmic Rays? - Iryna Butsky
  • 11:00-11:45 Thinking ahead to next-generation surveys (discussion) - Emmanuel Schaan, Elisabeth Krause, Steve Allen, Risa Wechsler
  • 11:45-12:30 KIPAC Directors' perspective and closing remarks - Stephen Streiffer, Roger Blandford, Tom Abel, Risa Wechsler
  • 12:30-14:00 Lunch
  • Printable schedule (PDF)
  • Full talk program, with links to videos
  • Videos of KIPAC@20 talks (YouTube)

There's more...!

In addition to the main talk schedule, posters showcasing a variety of KIPAC research will be on display upstairs, on the 2nd floor of the Fred Kavli Building. Please take some time during breakfast, lunch, or the coffee breaks to take a look.

During each of the coffee and lunch breaks, we will also be showcasing the Visualization Lab on the 2nd floor of FKB.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, September 13, we will be hosting tours to see the Vera C. Rubin Observatory LSST Camera and the SLAC site from the overlook, leaving FKB at 2:00 and 2:40pm. Sign-up is required (here).

Catering

We will provide breakfast and lunch each day of the conference, in addition to coffee and tea during the breaks. Breakfast will be served from 8am on the patio outside the front entrance of the Fred Kavli Building (FKB, Building 51) at SLAC.

A welcome reception will be held on Monday, September 11 at 5:30pm, and an additional reception at the end of the first day of talks, each on the patio in front of FKB.

The conference dinner will take place at 6:30pm, on Thursday September 14, at Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park (for registered attendees only). Directions are available here.

Accommodation

We have secured a limited number of rooms in the Stanford Guest House, on-site at SLAC. Please reserve your accommodation using the code KIPAC20. The deadline to reserve accommodation at the Guesthouse is July 27, 2023.

Alternatively, a number of hotels are available in the area.

Travel Information

KIPAC@20 will take place in the Fred Kavli Building (Building 51) the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025).

Getting here

Code of Conduct

By registering for KIPAC@20, all attendees agree to abide by the KIPAC Code of Conduct.

The KIPAC@20 Organising Committee

  • Dan Wilkins (Chair)
  • Tom Abel
  • Zeeshan Ahmed
  • Roger Blandford
  • Patricia Burchat
  • Susan Clark
  • Phil Marshall
  • Emmanuel Schaan
  • Risa Wechsler
  • Andrea Davies
  • Martha Siegel