While there was a lot of positive interest, not enough abstracts were received to run the workshop this summer. It will be rescheduled for Summer 2024. You can indicate your preference for the potential future dates here.
More information and the new dates will be announced in April 2023.
The Department of Physics at Winona State University (WSU) is happy to announce a workshop on infrared fine-structure lines. This 4-day conference will take place June 26th – 29th, 2023 in the Science Laboratory Center at WSU in Winona, Minnesota, USA.
The meeting will cover all topics related to the use of the infrared fine-structure lines as probes of the interstellar medium and properties of galaxies. This will include observational results as well as theoretical models and simulations. We aim to assemble a diverse group of astronomers including observers, theoreticians, and instrumentalists whose interests span from the earliest epochs to the present day, and galactic ecosystems to our own Milky Way.
Keynote Speakers: Gordon Stacey (Cornell University, United States) Jorge Pineda (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, United States) Juan Antonio Fernández-Ontiveros (Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón, Spain) Jessica Sutter (UC San Diego, United States) Seiji Fujimoto (University of Texas, United States) Lise Ramambason (University of Heidelberg, Germany)
Email IR.FSLWorkshop@gmail.com with questions.
Workshop Program
The Workshop program will be announced in early March 2023.
Abstract submission deadline EXTENDED to February 24, 2023.
Submit your abstract here.
Talks Keynote talks by invited speakers will be 25 min long + 5 min for questions, while contributed talks will be 15 minutes + 5 minutes. We hope to archive the presentations on OpenRiver, Winona State University’s digital repository.
Unconference Discussion Approximately a quarter of the workshop will be reserved for discussion time. These will be organized using an “unconference” format where participants will be able to suggest discussion topics at the time of discussion. These could span from discussion of specific line diagnostics to tutorials on of different modeling or analysis tools.
Unconference Proceeding While a conference proceeding can be a nice record of a meeting, having to write individual conference proceeds can be a burden for participants. Alternatively, we plan to jointly write an “unconference” proceeding. On the final day of the workshop we will schedule time to break into groups based on session and discussion topics to jointly write a short summary of what was presented and discussed at the workshop. Afterwards the organizing committee will edit the document, archive it on OpenRiver, and submit it to the arxiv.
Excursion/Free afternoon and Conference Dinner. On Wednesday evening a conference dinner will be planned. In the afternoon on Wednesday an excursion or free afternoon will be planned. More details will follow, but possible activities.
Registration Info
More information and the new dates will be announced in April 2023.
Rationale
The far-IR fine-structure lines (e.g. [CII] 158 µm, [OIII] 88 µm, [OI] 63 µm, [NeII] 12.8 µm, etc.) are powerful probes of the physical conditions of the various ionized, atomic, and molecular phases of the interstellar medium (ISM) in which they arise. They are usually optically thin, weakly affected by extinction due to dust, and important coolants of gas in which they arise. These properties, along with the lines being quite bright, make the IR fine-structure lines important tools in studying the physics of gas and its connection to star formation and AGN both in our own galaxy as well as others from the present day to the earliest epochs of the universe.
In 2015 a Far-IR Fine-Structure Line Workshop was held at the Haus der Astronomie and Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany. That workshop, motivated by results at that time from Herschel, ALMA, NOEMA, etc., sought to fully realize the potential of the IR fine-structure lines. Eight years later, our understanding of the lines has significantly improved while the facility landscape is quite different. JWST is now flying, providing unappareled access to the mid-IR fine-structure lines, while ground-based facilities like ALMA routinely detect the far-IR lines at the earliest epochs. However, we are nearly a decade past the end of Herschel’s mission and SOFIA has been recently decommissioned. Efforts are underway to develop the next generation of space-based far-IR observatory, but for the foreseeable future balloon missions will provide the only access to this important astrophysical window.
Considering this new reality for infrared astronomy, the 2023 IR Fine-Structure Line Workshop will:
- Bring together key figures in the observation and modeling of IR fine-structure lines to review our understanding of these emission lines and progress over that last eight years.
- Identify the key gaps in our understanding of the lines and our ability to use the lines as probes of galaxy properties.
- Identify the work to be done in the next 5 to 10 years to fill those gaps.
- Identify how we will do this work given the current facilities landscape, including what precursor work needs to be done to support future space-based missions.
- Identify synergies outside infrared (optical, radio, etc.) to best leverage the unique capabilities of the IR fine-structure lines.
Science Laboratory Center
Science Laboratory Center Atrium
Logistics
Important Dates
While there was a lot of positive interest, not enough abstracts were received to run the workshop this summer. It will be rescheduled for Summer 2024. You can indicate your preference for the potential future dates here.
More information and the new dates will be announced in April 2023.
Transportation Information will be provided before registration opens in Early March 2023
Accommodation Information will be provided before registration opens in Early March 2023
Venue Science Laboratory Center – Winona State University
Winona, Minnesota A town of just over 25,000, Winona is nestled in the Mississippi River Valley two hours south-east of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Located on the ancestral lands of the Dakota people, Winona is currently home to three institutions of higher education, including Winona State University, the first normal school west of the Mississippi River. A number of companies have a presence, if not a headquarters, in Winona including Benchmark Electronics, RTP, Watkins Corporation, We-No-Nah Canoe, Coda Bow, and the Fastenal Company to name a few. Winona hosts a thriving cultural scene that includes the Minnesota Maritime Art Museum, Midwest Music Festival, Great River Shakespear Festival, and Minnesota Beethoven Festival. To top it all off, outdoor activities abound from fishing to climbing, to biking and paddle boarding.
