Frontiers of the Physics of Massive Stars

Forefronts in Evolution and Physics of Massive Stars

Over the past thirty years significant progress has been made in our understanding of massive stars and their physics. This development was fueled by the landmark event of SN 1987A that exploded as a blue star rather than a red supergiant as expected, demonstrating that our understanding of massive-star evolution is far from complete. We have made significant progress since, including increasingly more sophisticated physics in the models, driven by both theory and a wealth of new observational constraints on stellar evolution, their supernovae and remnants. The most recent highlights have been the detections of gravitational waves from massive black hole binaries and binary neutron star mergers, including identification of the optical counterpart. This conference will provide an overview of the latest results in this field and identify current challenges and limitations, on both the theoretical and observational sides (and the links/tensions between them), to map the road for future directions and challenges of the field. Specific recent advances that we will review comprise: stellar rotation and magnetic fields, massive-star binaries and interactions, massive-star populations, stellar mass loss and circumstellar matter, stellar explosions, including supernovae, superluminous supernovae, and gamma-ray bursts, and stellar compact remnants, their populations, properties, and fates such as mergers, and the upcoming field of multi-dimensional stellar evolution. These are not independent topics. For example, binary stars play a central role in many areas of modern astrophysics, including the different types of supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, X-ray binaries, millisecond pulsars, and gravitational waves from mergers. We aim to develop a comprehensive picture across these topics that allows us to set the stage for future developments, building on the revitalised interest in massive stars as a result of the recent LIGO/Virgo detections.

Topics of interest

Massive star populations

Binary and multiple stars

Multi-dimensional stellar evolution and micro-physics

Stellar magnetic fields

Stellar rotation

Stellar mass loss and circumstellar matter

Stellar explosions

Mergers

Compact remnants

Scientific Organizing Committee

Alexander Heger - Monash University

Philipp Podsiadlowski - Oxford University

Selma De Mink - University of Amsterdam

Thomas Tauris - University of Bonn

Matteo Cantiello - Flatiron Institute

Sung-Chul Yoon - Seoul National University

Alex de Koter - University of Amsterdam

Danny Lennon - European Space Astronomy Centre

Chris Evans - The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh

Stan Woosley - University of California, Santa Cruz

Gloria Koenigsberger - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Guillermo García Segura - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

David Aguilera Dena - University of Bonn

Local Organizing Commitee

Gloria Koenigsberger - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Guillermo García Segura - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

David Aguilera Dena - University of Bonn

Aida Wofford - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Maria Eugenia Garcia - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Funding Agencies

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

CONACYT

Isabelle Baraffe - University of Exeter

Matteo Cantiello - Flatiron Institute

Benjamin Davies - Liverpool John Moores University

Kishalay De - California Institute of Technology

Peter Eggleton - University of Cambridge

Paulo Freire - Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy

Jim Fuller - California Institute of Technology

Alex Fullerton - Space Telescope Science Institute

Miriam Garcia - Centro de Astrobiología

Shingo Hirano - University of Texas at Austin

Artemio Herrero - Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

Alina Istrate - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Natasha Ivanova - University of Alberta

Rolf Kuiper - Universität Tübingen

Emily Levesque - University of Washington

Norbert Langer - Argelander-Institut für Astronomie

Pablo Marchant - Northwestern University

Takashi Moriya - National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Bernhard Müller - Monash University

Ken Nomoto - University of Tokyo

Dany Page - Instituto de Astronomía, UNAM

Chris Pankow - Northwestern University

Lee Patrick - Instituto de Astrofisica de las Canarias

Veronique Petit - University of Delaware

Hugues Sana - KU Leuven

Nathan Smith - University of Arizona

Alejandro Vigna-Gómez - University of Birmingham

Jorick Vink - Armagh Observatory and Planetarium

Aida Wofford - Instituto de Astronomía, UNAM

Please insert your registration information if you plan to attend the meeting. This is a tentative registration, which will become final once we receive payment of your REGISTRATION FEE.

About Ensenada

The meeting will be held in the Ensenada campus of the UNAM's Instituto de Astronomia. This division of the Instituto is responsible for the operation of the Observatorio Astronomico Nacional en San Pedro Martir.

Spanish is the official language in Mexico, but since Ensenada is a touristic city, and close to the border, people will most likely speak English. Remember that the local currency is the Mexican Peso (MXN), which has a conversion rate of approximately 18 MXN for 1 USD. Dollars are accepted in most places as well, but Euros are mostly inconvenient, remember to plan ahead!

Note that, for electronic devices, the Mexican electrical outlets are the same as in the USA. The LOC will have only a limited supply of plug adaptors for the european computers.

Buses and taxis in Ensenada are an easy way to get around the city. We recommend to have cash at hand (preferably pesos), since most taxis don't take other forms of payment. We recommend Taxis Amarillos

The auditorium has advanced audiovisual equipment and teleconference facilities. Several meeting rooms, a terrace overlooking the ocean and other gathering places are also available for informal discussions.

Getting there

The easiest way to get to Ensenada is to fly to Tijuana or to San Diego, and to take land transport from there (also recommended for the amazing view on the scenic road from Tijuana/San Diego, that goes along the coastline). This can be achieved by car, bus or taxi from either city. Take note that you are required to go through the border security (immigration and customs) if arriving from the US.

Note that there are 3 very convenient hotels located in the Mexico City airport in case it is necessary to spend the night in Mexico City before taking the connecting flight to Tijuana. They are NH Collection, Camino Real, and Hilton.

Have a look at out guide for more information about getting to Ensenada from Tijuana or San Diego .

Hotels

The conference will take place within UNAM's Instituto de Astronomía. Several hotels are located nearby and are available to participants at a discounted rate. We have reserved a block of 40 rooms in the Hotel Coral y Marina, for the nights of July 15 (Sunday) through July 19 (Thursday); i.e.,checkout is on Friday, July 20. The hotel is completely booked starting on Friday night, July 21, due to the high season in Ensenada. This hotel is located across the highway from the meeting venue. Costs are 170 USD tax included/night but without Breakfast (single or double occupancy), or 190.17 USD tax and breakfast included (breakfast for 2 people). When reserving, please give the code name CONGRESO LIGO to get these rates. Other hotels include Hotel Punta Morro, Posada Rey del Sol, and Hotel Lucerna, and Hotel Cortez-Baja Inn. Some have confirmed availability through the dates of the conference

We advise those who are interested to reserve your rooms as soon as possible, since the conference takes place during high season and although we have some rooms on hold on the hotels, it's better to be safe!