The first detection of gravitational waves from a binary neutron star merger GW170817 by the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration has provided fundamental new insights into the astrophysical site for the r-process nucleosynthesis and on the nature of dense neutron-star matter. The detected gravitational wave signal depends upon the tidal distortion of the neutron stars as they approach merger. We examine how the detected “chirp” depends on the adopted equation of state. This places new constraints on the properties of nuclear matter. The detected evidence of heavy-element nucleosynthesis also provides insight into the nature of the r-process and the fission properties of the heaviest nuclei. Parametrically, one can divide models for the r-process into three scenarios roughly characterized by the number of neutron captures per seed nucleus (n/s). In addition to neutron-star mergers, these include magneto-hydrodynamic jets from supernovae and the neutrino heated wind above the proto-neutron star in core-collapse supernovae. Insight from GW170817 allows one to better quantify the relative contributions of each astrophysical site.

Solar eruptive phenomena occur at different spatial, temporal and energy scales. A flare is the most violent form of solar activity which essentially represents sudden release of excess energy stored in the magnetic fields of solar corona. The contemporary multi-wavelength observations have immensely improved our understanding of the various physical processes occurring in different atmospheric layers of the Sun during a solar flare. The standard flare model has been successful in broadly recognizing these physical processes as the consequence of large-scale magnetic reconnection in the corona. Jets and coronal mass ejections are among important phenomena associated with solar flares. The objective of the present talk is to summarize the multi-wavelength observations of solar flares and associated phenomena taken mainly from the space borne instruments over the last decade. I will highlight some recent works on magnetic field modelling of the active region corona that shed light upon the triggering and energy release mechanisms. I will also briefly discuss contemporary observations on flare-flux rope-CME associations in the lower corona and their space weather consequences.

I have attempted to utilize network science tools for investigating topological structures of the Universe. In this talk, I provide an overview of network science and present the results of my three pilot studies applied to the data from COSMOS, Illustris, and NDWFS. Then, I briefly demonstrate and discuss about how we can apply the modern Big Data platform, Apache Spark, to astronomical data-driven problems. 

It has now been proven that the Universe is mostly filled with what we cannot see; dark energy and dark matter. The presence of dark matter had profound consequences on the evolution of the Universe. The Standard Model does not accommodate a suitable dark matter candidate. Therefore the existence of dark matter is a crucial phenomenological evidence for physics Beyond the Standard Model. The pressing goal of current and future dark matter experiments is to answer the question of whether dark matter interacts with normal matter other than gravity; i.e. if dark matter is detectable. Among the plethora of dark matter candidate particles, the Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) and the Axions are the most outstanding contender. In this talk, I will discuss about the dark matter axion search projects at KAIST/IBS. 

Thanks to modern technology - wide-field camera, high computing power, massive data storage, and robotic observation - it is possible to obtain thousands of asteroid light curves within a short period of time. Therefore, several important applications can be conducted on asteroids in a more comprehensive way. For instance, the interior structure can be studied through the spin-barrier, the mechanisms changing asteroid spin status can be learned through the spin-rate distribution, and the discoveries of binary asteroid, etc. Moreover, the super-fast rotating asteroids, a kind of odd objects against the current rubble-pile structure, can refresh our understanding of asteroid. I will talk about our asteroid time-series survey using wide-field facility, such as the PTF/ZTF, the PS1, the Xuyi observatory and the KMTNet, and what we have learned so far.

  Over the last three decades, our knowledge about planetary systems has increased dramatically, from one example with eight planets (our own Solar system) to over 2600 planetary systems hosting more than 3500 planets. While occurrence rate studies show that exoplanets are the rule rather than an exception our understating of how these planets form, in different environments and around different stars, is still limited. However, we are now on the verge of the next revolution in exoplanet science. TESS, PLATO, JWST, WFIRST, and LSST will complete the demographic census of planets across a wide range of environments, and will allow detailed characterization of their atmospheres and structure.    In this talk I will discuss the important role of microlensing in the forefront of exoplanetary studies. Gravitational microlensing is unique in its ability to probe several relatively untapped reservoirs of exoplanet parameter space, including planets near the "snowline," planets throughout the Galaxy, and the population of free-floating planets. A wealth of new and upcoming microlensing campaigns, both from ground and space, will allow the full exploration of the exoplanet demographics unique to microlensing. Specifically, I will present the key results from the first space microlensing campaigns, with Spitzer, which enable the first estimate of the Galactic distribution of planets, and preliminary results from the first NIR microlensing survey, with UKIRT, mapping the microlensing event rate and event timescale distribution near the Galactic center, which are inaccessible to optical surveys due to the high extinction. These are crucial for the microlensing survey planned with NASA flagship mission WFIRST, which is scheduled to launch in mid-2020, and will discover thousands of snowline exoplanets via their microlensing light curves, enabling a Kepler-like statistical analysis of planets at 1-10 AU from their parent stars and potentially revolutionizing our understanding of planet formation.

The MESSIER satellite has been designed to explore the extremely low surface brightness universe at UV and optical wavelengths. The two driving science cases target the mildly- and highly non-linear regimes of structure formation to test two key predictions of the LCDM scenario: (1) the detection of the putative large number of galaxy satellites, and (2) the identification of the filaments of the cosmic web. The science requirements imply challenging instrumentation issues which have only recently been solved. The satellite will drift scan the entire sky in 6 bands covering the 200-1000 nm wavelength range to reach the unprecedented surface brightness levels of 34 mag/arcsec^2 in the optical and 37 mag/arcsec^2 in the UV. As usual when uncovering new volumes in parameter space, many important secondary science cases will also result as free by-products and will be discussed in some detail: the actual luminosity function of galaxies, the contribution and role of intracluster light, the fluctuations of the cosmological background radiation at UV and optical wavelengths, the warm molecular hydrogen content of galaxies at z=0.25, time-domain studies of supernovae and tidal disruption events, the chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium through mass loss of red giant stars and the accurate measure of the BAO scale at z=0.7 with over 30 million galaxies detected in Lyman-alpha at this redshift. It will provide the first space-based reference UV-optical photometric catalogue of the entire sky. Synergies with GAIA, EUCLID and WFIRST will also be discussed, along with some of the statistical challenges involved in the data analysis.

Catastrophic collisions have shaped the destiny of the Solar System, and perhaps even humankind.  In 1994, a series of massive explosions occurred on Jupiter after the remnants of a fractured comet plunged into that planet's atmosphere. Dr. Hammel led the Hubble Space Telescope team that tracked these explosions.  When a fresh Jupiter impact site was discovered just 15 years later, Dr. Hammel and her colleagues used Hubble and the Gemini Observatory to determine that this was the result of an errant asteroid. Dr. Hammel will explain what happened on Jupiter during these cosmic collisions.  More importantly, she will explain the implications of such cosmic collisions for us here on Earth.  She will conclude with how AURA’s facilities (Hubble, Gemini, the Blanco telecope’s DECam, and the soon-to-be-completed LSST) will help us predict and prevent catastrophic impacts on Earth.

NASA is discussing "what they want to know next 30 years [science]” and “what it takes to make that happens [technology]” in order to answer the fundamental questions “Are we alone?” and “What is the origin and history of our solar system and extrasolar systems?” under the frame of (i) Discovery and (ii) Exploration of other worlds and cosmos and (iii) Development of necessary technologies. Searching for life and habitable environments outside Earth will be a driving force for many NASA projects. Next 30 years will be the decades of “sample returns” from asteroids and Mars. With the accumulation of scientific knowledge and technology through various missions including the exploration to Mars, NASA is paving a way for human exploration and noticeably shifting its focus to the water world Europa. When James Webb Telescope is put into the orbit in year 2018, it will detect and analyze water, oxygen, methane, ozone, temperature, surface pressure and many more on planets, especially seven exoplanets of TRAPPIST 1 solar system. The close comparative study of exoplanets and water and icy worlds in our solar system is expected as an effort to understand “life and its origin”. NASA will continue to examine the possibility to transform Mars into a habitable environment. This talk is intended to show the big picture under the overarching themes of NASA missions so that audience have a good foundation from which they can nurture their abilities to forecast what NASA and thus the international space exploration community try to achieve and where they will be next 10 years, 20 years, and 30 years.

Tai Chi, a Chinese martial art developed based on the laws of nature, emphasises how 'to conquer the unyielding with the yielding'. The recent observation of star formation shows that gravity, turbulence and magnetic fields may all play a role in star formation. Their detailed interaction, however, is always a topic of controversy due to the difficulties in both observations and simulations, especially when magnetic fields are involved. Is cloud turbulence super- or sub-Alfvenic? Are molecular cloud mass super- or sub-critical? I will review our recent quest of the answers of these central questions in star formation. And how Tai Chi may give us some inspiration.

Low temperature superconducting gravity gradiometer is the most sensitive equipment of measuring gravity. With mechanically levitated test masses and commercial SQUIDs, differential acceleration sensitivity of 10-12 m s-2 Hz-1/2 was demonstrated thirty years ago and is still the highest sensitivity in the world. We are developing an superconducting earthquake early detector using magnetic levitated test masses, differential frequency of which is 0.1Hz and the expected differential acceleration sensitivity is 3×10-14 m s-2 Hz-1/2. Besides detecting earthquake, we are designing an experiment to measure the gravity constant G as precise as 10ppm using the detector. In the future, we will try to demonstrate the key technologies of the new gravitational wave detector, SOGRO, such as low frequency and high quality factor magnetic levitation and so on.

Presently, the number of asteroids is known to be more than 740,000. Asteroids are thought to be the remnants of planetesimals formed in the early solar system, and allow us to study the formation and evolution of the solar system, as well as the origin of life. We performed two kinds of asteroid surveys with the Japanese infrared satellite AKARI. The first one is the mid-infrared survey to construct the size and albedo catalog of 5120 asteroids. Thanks to the 16-month continuous survey, the Asteroid catalog using AKARI, or AcuA, provides a 100% complete data set of all asteroids larger than 20 km, corresponding to more than 98% of the total mass of all asteroids in the main belt region. The second one is the near-infrared spectroscopic survey to search for water on asteroids. In order to explore the existence of water in the present solar system, it is important to investigate the presence of hydrated minerals and/or water ice on asteroids. These water-related materials show absorption features in the 3-micron band, which can only be observed by space-borne telescope without disturbance of atmospheric absorption. We carried out a spectroscopic survey of 66 asteroids with AKARI in the 2.5-5 micron wavelength range. From these observations, it is found that most C-type asteroids have clear absorption features related to hydrated minerals. In this talk, I will present the detail of these AKARI asteroid surveys.

We are entering a new era of astronomical polarimetry, in which new and stringent observational constraints are being placed on the role of magnetic fields in star formation.   In this talk, I will present James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) POL-2 polarimetric observations of the OMC 1 region of the Orion A filament, taken as part of the BISTRO (B-Fields in Star-Forming Region Observations) survey.  I will discuss modifications to the Chandrasekhar-Fermi method which allow estimation of plane-of-sky magnetic field strengths in the presence of a magnetic field showing large-scale, ordered variation, and will derive an estimate of the magnetic field strength in OMC 1.  I will discuss the energetic importance and evolutionary history of the magnetic field in the OMC 1 region, with particular emphasis on the interaction between the magnetic field and the explosive BN/KL outflow.

I will present recent results on the role of the cosmic web in shaping galaxy properties in the GAMA spectroscopic survey in the redshift range  0.03 < z < 0.25. The stellar mass, u - r dust corrected colour and  specific star formation rate (sSFR) of galaxies are analysed as a function of their distances to the 3D cosmic web features, such as nodes, filaments and walls.  Significant mass and type/colour gradients are found for the whole population, with more massive and/or passive  galaxies being located closer to the filament and wall than their less massive and/or star-forming counterparts. The red fraction of galaxies  is found to increase when closing in on nodes, and on filaments regardless of the distance to nodes. Similarly, the star-forming population reddens (or lowers its sSFR) at fixed mass when closing in on filament, implying that some quenching takes place. Comparable trends are also found in the state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulation HORIZON-AGN. I will argue that these results suggest that on top of stellar mass and large-scale density, the traceless component of the tides from the anisotropic large-scale environment also shapes galactic properties. I will also show that an extension of excursion theory accounting for filamentary tides provides a qualitative explanation in terms of anisotropic assembly bias, and it also explains the absence of type/colour gradients in the data on smaller, non-linear scales.

The Hyper Supreme-Cam is a gigantic CCD camera attached to the Subaru telescope which consists of 104 chips, providing 1.5 square degrees wide field of view (FOV). The combination of the large aperture of the Subaru together with the wide FOV of the HSC forms the best instrument to search for faint small Solar System bodies. In 2014, the HSC-SSP (Subaru Strategic Program) survey which covers ~1400 square degrees down to ~25 mag was started using a total of 300 nights. Since the researchers from Japan, Taiwan, and Princeton Univ. in the US worked on the development and funding for the instrumentation of the HSC, they have a priority to use the HSC-SSP data set, hence made use of the advantages. Although the main purpose of this survey is not planetary science, the team serendipitously discovered quite a large number of Solar System objects including TNOs in the HSC-SSP survey dataset, to measure their colors. The HSC has also been available for researchers outside the team during the open use time of the Subaru telescope. Using the time slots, we found a number of Jupiter Trojans and investigated their size frequency distribution (SFD). Comparing the SFD of the main belt with that of the Jupiter Trojans, we noticed a possible gradual change in the SFD, which might be a clue to the planet migration in the early Solar System. Using the HSC, we also conduct a survey of the planet 9 (P9) in the outer region of the Solar System. I will talk about the progress in this effort.

The Universe evolves hierarchically with small structures merging and falling in to form bigger structures. Due to its proximity, the Local Group (LG) is the best place to witness and study these hierarchical processes in action as evidenced by e.g., the many stellar streams found around the Milky Way (MW) and M31. Stellar systems in the LG have therefore become the benchmark for testing many aspects of cosmological theories. Despite the advances in both observational and theoretical areas in the last decade or so, many fundamental properties (e.g., mass profiles) of the LG and its constituents still remain poorly understood. This is mainly due to the limited information on the transverse motions of stellar systems in the LG. Proper motion (PM) measurements are required to resolve this issue, but this has been technically challenging since the typical motions across the sky are very small. In the past few years, our team has developed a state-of-the-art technique to determine proper motions of resolved stellar systems using multi-epoch HST data. In this talk, I will present results from our HST projects for measuring proper motions of stellar systems in the LG, and discuss how these results are improving our understanding of the LG dynamics. 

The second round of large programs is underway at JCMT with nine new science projects. The programs are currently being observed and promise opportunities for expansion to vital multi-wavelength studies. Results of the first large programs are also now being published and will be presented.

90년대 후반 부터 컴퓨터의 계산 성능 향상과 효율적인 수치 알고리즘들의 등장으로 인해 기존에는 제작이 불가능했던 여러 가지 물리 현상들을 영화 및 애니메이션에서 볼 수 있게 되었습니다. 수치해석을 기본으로 하는 이러한 물리 기반 애니메이션 기법은 현재 영화와 애니메이션에서 없어서는 안될 필수적인 요소가 되었습니다. 본 강연에서는 컴퓨터 그래픽스(Computer Graphics)라는 학문 분야와 특수 시각 효과(VFX)라는 산업 분야에 대해서 간략히 소개하고, 이러한 분야들에서 복잡한 물리 현상을 어떻게 구현하여 시각화하는 지에 대해 소개할 예정입니다. 세부 내용으로는 유체(fluid), 강체(rigid body), 변형체(soft body), 옷(cloth), 머리카락/털(hair/fur)들의 사실적인 움직임을 표현하는데에 있어서 물리가 어떻게 활용되는지에 대해서 다루게 될 예정입니다. 또한, 영화나 다큐멘터리에서 우주를 시각화하는 몇 가지 예제들에 대해서도 제작 과정을 함께 보며 여러 가지 생각과 의견을 교환해 보는 자리를 가져보려고 합니다.

Korea has a prodigious history in astronomy. Many astronomical books were published under Sejong the Great, and to our surprise, one of the books recorded that a concentrated alignment of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn was observed in BC 2467, almost 4500 years ago. Using an astronomical software, we confirmed that this alignment actually happened in BC 2470. The slight difference in time is considered negligible, as it is unclear what kind of calendar was used back then. During the speech, more examples will be given of the ancient observations of the sky, along with how many aspects of traditional Korean culture find their origins in the sky.

Magnetic fields are speculated to affect the collapse dynamics in early star formation to influence the IMF, which may be imprinted in the local metal-poor population. These fields arise by the amplification of primordial fields during the formation of the first (Pop III) and from their feedback. We study the former using MHD simulations with a uniform seed field from  cosmological initial conditions to the formation and supernova of a Pop III star. We find that a weak seed field can be amplified to μG at the density peak and by a factor of 100 around the shell of the supernova shock. We also explored the dynamics of metal-poor mini-halos, enriched by Pop III supernova, in varying metallicities and Lyman-Werner flux to produce a fit for the minimum collapse mass. Furthermore, Pop III stars are significant drivers of reionization at high redshift (z > 10). We use semi-numeric methods including Pop III stars as ionizing sources and calculating an optical depth, τe = 0.0569, consistent with the latest results from Planck. The resulting ionization fields can efficiently model the ionizing UV background in cosmological simulations. These results are essential to building a full MHD simulation of the first galaxies.

Water is the most precious resource for sustaining life and enabling exploration. Consequently, until about a decade ago, exploration of the Moon had been limited to space missions and telescopic observations focused on understanding the geology and space environment of the Moon. It was believed the Moon was essentially dry even though there were strong clues for water ice at the poles from ‘enhanced hydrogen’ measurements by orbital neutron spectros measurements and intriguing anomalous radar scattering signatures within a few polar craters that might suggest ice.  It was the Indian Space Agency mission, Chandrayaan-1, combined with opportunistic observations by the comet mission, Deep Impact, and the Saturnian mission, Cassini, which made seminal discoveries to fundamentally change our understanding of and raised many more questions about what we now know to be a Moon that does indeed contain significant resources of water.   I will discuss some of what has been discovered by these international missions, and what we may learn from upcoming planned and potential missions returning to the Moon including the water ice at the poles, for which there are intriguing theories of origin and evolution.  We now also know the illuminated Moon may be ‘hydrated’ with some type of hydroxyl in its surface that may be ephemeral on a diurnal timescale, which is potential evidence for an active process. I will discuss various lines of evidence and theories supporting and arguing against significant hydration on the Moon and will explore the potential of both the confirmed and inferred ‘water’ deposits as possible resources to sustain human and robotic exploration of the surface.

The European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory has the largest single mirror ever built for a space telescope. At 3.5-metres in diameter the mirror collects long-wavelength radiation from some of the coldest and most distant objects in the Universe. In addition, Herschel is the only space observatory to cover a spectral range from the far infrared to sub-millimetre. I will present new findings from Herschel.

A thermal imager and spectrometer is being investigated for possible construction in the early operation of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT).  Combined with the mid-IR adaptive optics (AO) system (MIRAO), the instrument will afford ~15 times higher sensitivity and ~ 4 times better spatial resolution (0.07”) with a greatly improved and stable Strehl ratio at 10um compared to the images delivered by the fast guiding systems of 8m-class telescopes.  Through exploiting the large collecting area of the TMT, a high-dispersion spectros mode unrivaled by other ground- and space-based facilities is planned.  Such capabilities offer the possibility for breakthrough science, as well as ‘workhorse’ observing modes of imaging and low/moderate spectral resolution.  I discuss progress on this instrument concept and especially how it could be used to advance thermal IR observations of AGN.

We present the status of the COsmic BAckground Neutrino Decay search (COBAND) experiment. The signal of the cosmic background neutrino decay is identified as a sharp off at high energy end in a far-infrared region ranging from 15meV to 30meV in the energy spectrum of the photons from the space. The COBAND experiment will be done as rocket and satellite experiments in order to detect the far-infrared photons from the space. For a photon detector of the COBAND experiment, we are developing the Superconducting Tunnel Junction (STJ) detector. We will use a combination of the diffraction grating and the array of Nb/Al-STJ pixels for the rocket experiment, and use Hf-STJ as a micro-calorimeter for the future satellite experiment. The present status of the COBAND experiment is reported in more detail.

 The interaction between stars and their surrounding interstellar medium (ISM) is of critical importance for the evolution of galaxies. In this talk, I will present our investigation of the physical properties and excitation mechanisms of the warm molecular gas in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). As a pilot study, we focused on N159W, one of the most active star-forming regions in the LMC, and observed the target with the Herschel SPIRE FTS, detecting CO rotational transitions up to CO(12-11). Our radiative transfer analysis on 10 pc scales revealed the presence of very warm (400 K) and moderately dense (1000 cm-3) molecular gas in the LMC for the first time. In combination with other gas and dust tracers, we examined the observed CO line ratios using state-of-the-art models of photodissociation region (PDR) and shock, finding that mechanical heating by low-velocity shocks, rather than ionizing sources (UV photons, X-rays, and cosmic-rays), is the dominant heating source for CO. Finally, I will the talk by presenting future work, which includes our ongoing investigation of the starbursting 30Doradus region.

The ionosphere is a part of the upper atmosphere (75–1000 km in altitude) where atoms and molecules are ionized appreciably and the propagation of electromagnetic waves is significantly affected by the ionization. Important space weather phenomena such as disruption of communication and navigation systems and damage on power transmission lines are caused by the ionosphere, and therefore, accurate knowledge of ionospheric phenomena and their drivers has a vital importance for the mitigation of the impact of space weather on the society. This talk will provide an overview of ionospheric phenomena and their drivers. In Part 1, ionospheric climatology induced by solar radiation and anomalies associated with electrodynamical coupling of plasma and neutral particles will be introduced. Three key elements for understanding ionospheric phenomena are electric fields, neutral winds, and neutral composition. The physical processes underlying these three elements and their application will be explained in Part 2. Various forms of ionospheric disturbances induced by various sources (geomagnetic storms, plasma instability, tropospheric storms, tornadoes, volcanos, earthquakes, and rocket launches) will be presented in Part 3. 

Recent development in string theory has led to the extension of General Relativity, i.e. Stringy Gravity. It postulates the entire closed string massless sector to be geometric and thus gravitational. I will first introduce the mathematical foundation and then discuss the solution to dark matter/energy problems. In terms of R/(MG), i.e. the dimensionless radial variable normalized by mass, Stringy Gravity agrees with General Relativity near infinity, but modifies it at short distance. At far short distance, gravitational force can be even repulsive. These may solve the dark matter and energy problems, as they essentially arise from small R/(MG) observations: far distance divided by much heavier mass.