Molecules in Galaxies

Event starts: 
Mon, 26/07/2010 (All day)
Event ends: 
Fri, 30/07/2010 (All day)

 

A pre-registration form is now available for the conference. The first official public annoucement should also be out soon. However, to make sure you are kept up-to-date with conference developments and receive the call for oral/poster abstracts, we encourage you to pre-register by entering your details and email address. You will then be added to our email list.

Understanding galaxy formation and evolution is at the heart of modern astronomy. Central to that goal is the necessity to improve our understanding of star formation, and thus the evolution of the interstellar medium of galaxies, where molecular gas plays a key role. Given the numerous current instrumental efforts at mm and sub-mm wavelengths, a conference reviewing our knowledge of the field and delineating future research directions is both timely and exciting.

The conference "Molecules in Galaxies", to be held in Oxford, UK, 26-30 July 2010, will tackle many of the contemporary questions surrounding the molecular gas content of galaxies. In particular, it will allow to review the state of the field as the Atacama Large Millimeter/Sub-Millimeter Array (ALMA) starts operation, and thus carefully plan its exploitation. First, the conference will provide a census of the molecular gas in galaxies, across both Hubble types (dwarfs, spirals, early-types) and cosmological epochs (from the Milky Way to high-redshit quasars). Second, it will review molecular line diagnostics constraining the physical conditions of the gas, its chemistry, and the laws governing star formation. Third, it will explore the close relationship between dust and molecular gas, and the diagnostics provided by far-infrared (FIR) and sub-mm observations, particularly in view of early Herschel Space Observatory results. Lastly, it will discuss the latest current and planned mm/sub-mm facilities, particulary ALMA. Throughout, attention will be paid to theoretical models, particularly regarding the atomic-molecular balance.

Core Topics

Although a detailed programme has not yet been drafted, we expect the main topics covered during the meeting to include:

  • Molecular Gas Census:
    • Galactic Center and Milky Way
    • Magellanic Clouds and local galaxies
    • Dwarf, spiral, lenticular, elliptical galaxies
    • (Central) cluster galaxies and cooling flows
    • High-redshift galaxies, radio galaxies, QSOs
    • Cosmological accretion
  • Molecular and Atomic Line Diagnostics:
    • Physical conditions
    • Excitation mechanisms (PDRs, XDRs)
    • Inter-relationships of molecular tracers
    • Atomic-molecular balance
    • Starburst and AGN evolution
    • Chemistry
  • Star Formation:
    • SF census (normal galaxies, LIRGS, ULIRGS; field vs clusters)
    • SF rate, efficiency and history
    • SF laws
    • SF feedback and outflows
  • Dust:
    • Formation and evolution
    • Dependence on environment (Milky Way, low-metallicity galaxies, high-z galaxies)
    • Molecular gas-dust relationship
    • PAHs
    • FIR/sub-mm lines and diagnostics
    • Early Herschel results

Invited Speakers

  • Susanne Aalto (*)
  • Leo Blitz (*)
  • Martin Bureau
  • Daniela Calzetti
  • Bruce Draine
  • Dusan Keres (*)
  • Mark Krumholz
  • Fred Lahuis
  • Crystal Martin
  • Chris McKee
  • Desika Narayanan
  • Erik Rosolowsky
  • Marco Spaans
  • Gordon Stacey
  • Linda Tacconi
  • Jean Turner
  • Fabian Walter
  • Christine Wilson
(*) To be confirmed.

 

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