Events on Monday, February 11th, 2019
- Astronomy Colloquium
- Special Monday 2/11/19
- Structure formation and turbulent processes in the Universe: from cosmology to star formation
- Time: 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
- Place: 4421 Sterling Hall, Coffee and cookies 3:30 PM, Talk begins 3:45 PM
- Speaker: Philip Mocz, Princeton University, Einstein postdoc Fellow
- Abstract: Much of structure formation in the Universe involves self-gravity and turbulence. In my talk I will explore the formation and evolution of structure in several contexts, including cosmology (scalar field dark matter), the early universe (oscillons), and star formation. Our theoretical understanding of such systems and processes is incomplete. While diverse, these physical systems turn out to have rich, not fully explored mathematical connections as well. I develop high-performance numerical simulations to aid in building a theoretical picture of fundamental, ubiquitous physical processes, taking an interdisciplinary and unifying approach. The theory is then applied to understand astrophysical consequences and make observational predictions (for JWST, gravitational waves, polarization measurements) that may be used to constrain unknown physical system parameters.