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June AAS "Topical Sessions" - Announcement & Solicitation
*********Special HEA Sessions Planned for June AAS Meeting*************
ANNOUNCEMENT OF TWO "TOPICAL SESSIONS" (June 10 and 11, 1997)
AND SOLICITATION OF PAPERS FOR JUNE AAS MEETING, Winston-Salem, NC
Two Topical Sessions are planned for the upcoming June AAS meeting
in Winston-Salem, NC. Both are of potential interest to the HEA
community at large, and both also invite contributed papers to be
given in Oral and Poster sessions, with abstracts submitted via
the normal AAS procedures by the upcoming
DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS: APRIL 9, 1997.
The two Topical sessions (each 1 full day) and associated Oral/Poster
sessions are:
ALL SKY IMAGING SURVEYS OF BLACK HOLE CANDIDATES AND AGN
Tuesday, June 10, 1997
(with session for contributed Oral papers on Monday morning, June 9,
and a Poster session all day on Monday)
and
NEW INSIGHTS ON X-RAY BINARIES
Wednesday, June 11, 1997
(with contributed Oral papers on the same day and contributed Poster
papers on Thurs. June 12)
Descriptions of both Topical Sessions, and programs of speakers, are
provided below along with information on submission of Abstracts and
the names and addresses of the organizers.
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Announcement and Invitation to Participate in a
Topical Session at June AAS (Winston-Salem, NC) on Tues. June 10, 1997, on:
ALL SKY IMAGING SURVEYS OF BLACK HOLE CANDIDATES AND AGN
(with contributed Oral and Poster papers on Monday June 9, 1997)
RATIONALE FOR TOPICAL SESSION/WORKSHOP
Black holes accreting in either x-ray binary systems or AGN are
increasingly recognized to be particularly bright as hard x-ray
(20-200 keV) sources and are also conspicuous by their time variability
over a broad range of timescales (milliseconds to years). The basic
understanding of the galactic systems is presently severely limited by
the relatively small samples of objects for study: only 6 black hole
candidates (BHC) have been confirmed as very probable black holes (BH)
by their optically measured mass functions and minimum mass for the
compact object of greater than 3 Msun, although an additional 10-15
sources are suspected as being BHC by their x-ray spectral properties.
Most of these BHC are bright transients, detected during approximately
1 month outbursts reaching 1-10 times the hard x-ray flux of the Crab
and recurring perhaps every 10-50 years. This sample is dominated by
nearby objects (1-4 kpc) and suggests a much larger population of
perhaps 1000 BH systems in the Galaxy. Similarly, AGN have been
detected as hard x-ray sources from only a relatively small number
(15-20) of relatively bright Seyferts and luminous QSOs. Their hard
x-ray spectra, most recently (and sensitively) obtained with the OSSE
instrument on CGRO, show that a significant portion of the total AGN
luminosity is in the hard x-ray band. However, AGN luminosities are
still highly uncertain due to poor knowledge of the hard x-ray cutoff
energies, which appear to vary from 40-100 keV in Seyferts to at least
1 MeV or more in non-thermal Blazar type sources.
The study of entire populations of accreting BH systems, from XRBs to
AGN, can be conducted with wide-field imaging hard x-ray
surveys. These can start with galactic plane and limited high latitude
surveys but should be extended to all-sky surveys. Since the hard
x-ray sky is dominated by point sources (i.e. BHC and lower luminosity
accreting neutron star systems in the Galaxy; and AGN), and virtually
all sources are variable, studies should be conducted with wide field
all sky monitors and imagers. Broad temporal, as well as spatial,
coverage at high sensitivity are needed to characterize both the
internal physics and broad population of BH sources.
Partial-sky hard x-ray imaging surveys have recently become possible
(and have been initiated) at moderate sensitivity with occultation
imaging using the BATSE detectors on CGRO and (at lower x-ray
energies) with the scanning coded aperture ASM on RXTE. The wide-field
coded aperture cameras on Beppo-SAX are also able to contribute to
these initial surveys. However much more sensitive (by factors of
10-100) surveys at hard x-ray energies are needed to study the full
population of galactic BH systems and to greatly extend hard x-ray
studies of AGN into the domain long reached at soft x-ray
energies. The planned ABRIXAS mission (Germany) will conduct an
imaging 2-10 keV all sky survey in c. 1999, and INTEGRAL (ESA) will
carry out an imaging even more sensitive, and higher resolution, all
sky hard x-ray imaging survey mission, EXIST (Energetic X-ray Imaging
Survey Telescope) is currently being studied (New Mission Concept) as
a possible future NASA mission.
The 1 day Topical Session on June 10, 1997, at the AAS meeting in
Winston-Salem, NC, will address the scientific questions being
addressed by the initial surveys for BH systems in and out of the
Galaxy as well as the current (e.g. RXTE and SAX) and upcoming ABRIXAS
and INTEGRAL missions. It will then consider the science and
instrumentation drivers which should be considered in the
implementation of a future all sky hard x-ray imaging survey mission.
INVITED SPEAKERS AND PROGRAM for Topical Session -- Tuesday June 10, 1997
(All talks ~20 min)
Survey science and workshop objectives: J. Grindlay (CfA)
BH Populations in the Galaxy and BH Signatures:
J. van Paradijs (MSFC/Amsterdam): Galactic Population of BH x-ray binaries
C. Wheeler (Texas): Temporal signatures of BHs in x-ray novae
E. Liang (Rice): Spectral signatures of BHs in XRBs and AGN
- - - - - - --Coffee Break--
BH Signatures and hard x-ray clues in AGN:
N. Johnson (NRL): OSSE results on AGN spectra and variability
A. Zdziarski (Warsaw): Annihilation lines and cutoffs in XRBs and AGN
A. Wilson (Maryland): AGN vs. hard x-ray background spectrum
- - - - - - ----Lunch Break-----
Current and Planned Surveys:
R. Remillard (MIT): RXTE galactic plane survey
J. Heise (Utrecht): SAX survey
R. Staubert (Tuebingen): ABRIXAS Survey
P. Ubertini (Frascati): INTEGRAL galactic plane survey
- - - - - - --Coffee Break--
Proposed Hard X-ray Imaging Surveys:
N. Gehrels (GSFC): Optimization of choices for survey mission
parameters and possible implementation
T. Prince (Caltech): EXIST all sky hard x-ray imaging survey
Note: Although all speakers have been confirmed, there may be program
changes or additions.
CONTRIBUTED PAPERS: Oral and Poster Sessions -- Monday June 9, 1997
Participants are encouraged to submit Abstracts to the AAS by the
normal procedures and deadline for both Oral and Poster papers to
address the questions posed by this Workshop. Both the Oral and Poster
session will be scheduled for Monday, June 9, so that they will not
conflict with the Topical Session on June 10 or the related Topical
Session on X-ray Binaries scheduled for June 11.
Abstracts for either the Oral or Poster session should be be submitted
by either filling out the AAS form on the Web at
http://www.aas.org/meetings/aas190/prelim/prelim.html
or by submitting the form on paper to the AAS but in either case
before the
ABSTRACT DEADLINE: APRIL 9, 1997
When filling out the Abstract form, please list "Black Hole Workshop"
under the "Special Interest Group" so that it can be properly
assigned. Please also submit a copy (by email) of the Abstract to
jgrindlay@cfa.harvard.edu
Additional information, and program updates, can be obtained from
Josh Grindlay, Harvard Observatory, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138
(josh@cfa.harvard.edu).
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Announcement and Invitation to Participate in a
Topical Session at June AAS (Winston-Salem, NC) on Wed. June 11, 1997, on:
NEW INSIGHTS ON X-RAY BINARIES
(with contributed Oral papers on the same day
and contributed Poster papers on Thurs. June 12)
The last few years have witnessed the discovery of new and unexpected
behavior in X-ray binaries, and added substantially to our knowledge
of previously identified sources. Observations by ROSAT, CGRO, ASCA
and RXTE, combined in many cases with multiwavelength coverage in the
radio, infrared and optical, have led to the discovery of two new
Galactic jet sources, millisecond QPO's, improved understanding of the
spinup and spindown behavior of several accreting neutron stars, more
detailed spectroscopic measurements of black hole accretion disks, a
second rapidly repeating X-ray burster (GRO J1744-28), the
identification of a possible new class of anomalous X-ray pulsars, and
the detection of quiescent X-ray emission and supernova remnants
associated with the Soft Gamma Repeaters. The goal of this workshop
is to summarize the current observational situation, and to
investigate how physical modelling of any one particular source can be
improved in light of this diversity of behavior.
INVITED SPEAKERS:
Lars Bildsten (Berkeley) theoretical overview
Alan Harmon (Marshall) Galactic jet sources
Michiel van der Klis (Amsterdam) XTE results
Chryssa Kouveliotou (Marshall) GRO J1744-28: observations
Walter Lewin (MIT) GRO J1744-28: interpretation
Tom Prince (Caltech) BATSE monitoring of X-ray binaries
Nick White (Goddard) ASCA results
CONTRIBUTED TALKS AND POSTERS:
The session will also include six contributed talks, and a parallel
poster session held the following day. The organizers welcome
submissions of either a theoretical or observational nature.
THE ABSTRACT DEADLINE IS APRIL 9
Please submit your abstract either by
(i) accessing the conference Web site at
http://www.aas.org/meetings/aas190/prelim/prelim.html
under `All About Abstracts'; or
(ii) by familiar old-fashioned methods (paper).
Please remember to choose "New Insights on X-ray Binaries" under
"Special Interest Group". It would also help us if you would send a
copy of your abstract to us directly. This is easily done if you
submit electronically: a copy of the abstract will be bounced back to
you by email, and please forward this to thompson@physics.unc.edu .
ORGANISERS:
John Blondin NCSU email: john_blondin@ncsu.edu
Charles Evans UNC email: evans@physics.unc.edu
Christopher Thompson UNC email: thompson@physics.unc.edu
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