International School on Galactic and Cosmological N-Body Simulations
July 23 - August 5, 2006 Tonantzintla - Puebla, Mexico
We are pleased to announce a summer school on N-body
simulations to be held at Tonantzintla, Puebla in Mexico,
as part of the "Guillermo Haro Program for Advanced Astrophysics
MOTIVATION
N-body simulations play an ever increasing role in our understanding
of the realm of galaxies and cosmology. From the very beginning, the
N-nody problem has been a key tool in Galactic Dynamics and Cosmology,
going back to the pioneering work of Holmberg in 1941. Many important
phenomena like galaxy interactions, the role of galactic bars and the
growth of the large scale structure of the Universe, to name a few,
have been studied by means of N-body simulations.
The enormous advances in computer technology have made possible
nowadays to run simulations in common desktop computers, that only
recently required expensive computers. Together with this, new and
powerful computer codes have been developed and made freely available.
These developments make possible to run research-grade simulations
without access to specialized or expensive computer resources. This
opens up the field of N-body simulations to a much wider base of
researchers and students.
It is the goal of this school to train students interested in doing
research in Galactic Dynamics and Cosmology using N-body
simulations, but have no previous experience in this. This will be
a "hands-on" school, where lectures will be combined with computer
labs. In the lectures we will cover the numerical and dynamical facets
of the art of N-body simulations. The labs will be used to develop
proficiency in the use of codes and numerical tools. Given the time
constraint we will concentrate on tree codes and the
NEMO dynamics toolbox .
PROGRAMME
The school consists of morning lectures, afternoon computer lab
sessions and conferences at the end of the day.
The lecturers will present their material in a coordinated way,
teaching the basics necessary to generate initial conditions, run
simulations and analyze results. They will also discuss the physics
and numerics behind, as well as the limitations of the
simulations. During the lab sessions, students will work on various
exercises designed to develop proficiency at using the lecture
material. The conferences will showcase various applications in
Galactic Dynamics and Cosmology, of the type of simulations covered in
the lectures. They will also suggest interesting problems to be
pursued by the students.
Since this is a "hands-on" school, were the ability to run simulations
by the students is sought, the material covered is necessarily
restricted. We will concentrate in the use of tree codes to simulate
collisionless dynamics.
The topics covered will be:
- Introduction to the art of N-body simulations
- A good beginning: Setting up initial conditions
- Codes: A fast tree code
- Making sense of all: Analysis tools
- Is this of any use?: Modeling galactic and cosmological phenomena
Students that have laptop computers with Unix (linux/Mac OS X) should bring them.
They will be able to load and run
all the school material and tools directly
in their laptops. Computers will be provided for students without
laptops, on a shared basis.
LECTURERS
Luis Aguilar (UNAM/Mexico)
Lia Athanassoula (Marseille/France)
Walter Dehnen (Leicester/UK)
Julio Navarro (Victoria/Canada)
Peter Teuben (Maryland/USA)
SPEAKERS
Vladimir Avila (UNAM/Mexico)
Albert Bosma (Marseille/France)
Pedro Colin (CRyA/Mexico)
Ivanio Puerari (INAOE/Mexico)
Octavio Valenzuela (Washington/USA)
VENUE
The advanced school is part of the annual international Guillermo Haro
programme, which promotes advanced research through the organization
of lecture series, workshops, and conferences at the
Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica (INAOE) in
Tonanzintla - Puebla, Mexico.
REGISTRATION
About 40 participants will be selected to attend
the school from those that register before the final
deadline of April 30th, 2006.
The final list of accepted participants will be published
in the electronic page of the event by May 22nd.
Registration should be completed on-line via our
registration web page.
HOTEL INFORMATION
Detailed information regarding the accomodation during the school will
appear shortly in our web-page and in our next circular. We are
arranging relatively cheap accommodation with the "Hotel Posada
Senorial" Cholula, 5 minutes by bus from INAOE. The cost for a double
room is aprox. 40 USD. Note that there is the
possibility to join with other students of the school to occupy the
same double room and thus lower the accommodation cost to 1/2 of the
price. In addition, INAOE has a limited number of rooms with a cost of
20 USD per night. A dinner in Cholula, in a typical Tacos restaurant
would cost less than 10 USD.
PROCEEDINGS
The lectures will be
published electronicallly
and available during the school.
SCHOOL FEE
The registration fee of 200 US dollars covers the cost of
lecture material, breakfast, lunch and coffee-breaks.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Some financial support is available that ranges from a school
fee waiver to help with lodging costs. Please indicate in the
registration form if you need assistance.
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
SOC: Luis Aguilar (Chair), Peter Teuben, Lia Athanassoula and Walter
Dehnen.
LOC: Luis Aguilar, Alberto Carraminana,
Omar Lopez, Raul Mujica (Chair), Jose Ramon Valdes, Jean Charles
Lambert,
CONTACT
For more information,
or email: gh2006@inaoep.mx
Local links on this page::
This page was last modified on
24-Oct-2011 16:43 EST/EDT
by PJT. (UMD
mirror/INAOE orig)
