February 6 - 8, 2024
Loss cones in Como
at the cloister of the Sant'Abbondio basilica in Como, Italy
The meeting focuses on loss cone events and energetic transients
Galactic nuclei are of great interest for understanding a wide variety of astrophysical phenomena. Being characterized by extremely high stellar densities and usually hosting a massive black hole, they represent the perfect environments for the production of exotic astrophysical phenomena, such as Tidal Disruption Events (TDEs) and Extreme Mass-Ratio Inspirals (EMRIs). The meeting will focus on the dynamical formation mechanisms of EMRIs, TDEs and other exotica like QPEs that can occur in dense galactic nuclei and the observational constraints on their rates. We will foster discussion on the dynamical generation of these phenomena, which are typically expected to be induced by stellar dynamical processes. In particular, we will discuss:
how the standard theoretical models perform against available observations
what are the challenges for the simulation of these phenomena
which research directions regarding the dynamics of these sources are to be tackled most urgently in view of future missions
A better understanding of these processes is critical in view of present and future missions, that will significantly enhance the catalog of observed TDEs and inaugurate the era of EMRIs detection.
Meeting philosophy
The meeting structure will be extremely relaxed, with plenty of time for discussion and scientific interactions, and few long talks per day. The main aim of the meeting is not to present new results, but rather to foster collaboration, brainstorm about new ideas, discuss the directions we should take in the future of this field. We will actively promote an informal, relaxed and respectful working environment.
Senior Scientist?
Feel free to extend your invitation to a student. This is an opportunity to build a network.
Grad Student?
You'll have the opportunity to share your work with a short talk.
Participants
Pau Amaro-Seoane Universitat Politècnica de València
Riccardo Buscicchio University of Milano-Bicocca
Marcelo Cortes Vergara Heidelberg University
Margherita Giustini Centro de Astrobiologia Madrid
Karamveer Kaur Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Itai Linial Columbia/IAS
Giuseppe Lodato University of Milano
Yiqiu Ma Huazhong University
Cole Miller University of Maryland
Brenna Mockler Carnegie Observatories
Chris Nixon University of Leeds
Francesca Onori INAF-OAAb
Peng Peng KIAA at Peking University
Zephyr Penoyre Leiden Observatory
Federico Pozzoli University of Insubria
Ismail Qunbar Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Elena Maria Rossi Leiden University
Rainer Spurzem ARI/ZAH, Heidelberg, and NAOC/CAS Beijing
Nick Stone Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Biancamaria Sersante Leiden University
Odelia Teboul Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Martina Toscani University of Milano-Bicocca
Eugene Vasiliev University of Surrey
Veronica Vazquez Aceves KIAA at Peking University
Pavan Vynatheya MPA
Mengye Wang Huazhong University
Qingwen Wu Huazhong University
Organizers
Matteo Bonetti
Elisa Bortolas
Luca Broggi
Massimo Dotti
Alessia Franchini
Francesco Haardt
Alessandro Lupi
Davide Mancieri
Alberto Sesana
Venue
The city of Como overlooks the southwest end of its lake and is surrounded by green ridge hills, resulting in a unique natural scenery. Como downtown is full of history, being home to many antique churches and buildings. It is surrounded by the ancient, medieval walls and it faces the beautiful lake, whose side-paths offer gorgeous views.
Programme
Speakers are allowed to use the entire time slot for their talks: questions will be part of the discussion.
Tuesday Feb 6
9.20 Welcome speech
(not only) TDEs: theory and observations
9.30 Giuseppe Lodato
10.00 Chris Nixon
10.30 Coffee Break
11.00 Brenna Mockler
11.30 Questions & Discussion (Martina Toscani, Francesca Onori)
12.30 Lunch Break
Loss cone phenomenology
14.30 Nick Stone
15.00 Pau Amaro-Seoane
15.30 Pavan Vynatheya
15.45 Questions & Discussion (Odelia Teboul, Veronica Vazquez-Aceves)
16.45 Evening in Como
19.00 Social Dinner @ Osteria Gesumin
Wednesday Feb 7
Dynamics in Galactic Nuclei
9.30 Elena Maria Rossi
10.00 Ismail Qunbar
10.15 Davide Mancieri
10.30 Biancamaria Sersante
10.45 Coffe Break
11.15 Questions & Discussion (Zephyr Penoyre, Alberto Sesana)
11.45 Rainer Spurzem
12.15 Marcelo Cortes-Vergara
12.30 Lunch Break
14.30 Peng Peng
14.45 Questions & Discussion (Massimo Dotti, Alessandro Lupi)
Rates (EMRIs and TDEs)
15.30 Eugene Vasiliev
16.00 Coffee Break
16.30 Quingwen Wu / Yiqiu Ma
17.00 Mengye Wang
17.15 Federico Pozzoli
17.30 Questions & Discussion (Riccardo Buscicchio, Matteo Bonetti)
18.15 End of the day
Thursday Feb 8
EMRI-TDE connection
10.00 Cole Miller
10.30 Margherita Giustini
11.00 Coffee Break
11.30 Itai Linial
11.45 Questions & Discussions (Karamveer Kaur, Alessia Franchini)
12.30 End of the works
Meeting location
Sant'Abbondio Cloister
Via Sant'Abbondio (in front of house number 11) or Via Regina Teodolinda, 35, 22100 Como CO, Italy
The meeting will be held in the ancient cloister of Sant'Abbondio, a 16th century building near Como downtown. The cloister sits next to the basilica of Sant'Abbondio, a beautiful, nearly 1000-year-old Romanesque basilica built just outside the walls of the city, along the road (Via Regina Teodolinda) that once connected Como to northern Europe.
The meeting will be held in room S.0.5 located at the ground floor of the cloister.
Here some practical information to reach the room.
Social dinner
Bits of Lombardy
Strudel con carciofi e salsa di zafferano di Faloppio
Bresaola della Valtellina con taleggio della Valsassina
Bruschetta tradizionale con pomodoro fresco e basilico
Crostoncino di polenta bramata, con gorgonzola
Insalata d'inverno
Tortelloni di zucca al burro e salvia
Filetto di pesce di lago con verdurine e patate al forno
or
Polpette vegetali con verdurine e patate al forno
Dessert a scelta
Torta di mele tiepida con crema delicata
How to reach Como
Nearby Airports
The closest airports to Como are Malpensa and Linate in Milan, and Orio al Serio near Bergamo.
From the nearby airports to Como
MALPENSA: From the train station inside Malpensa airport, you can take the Malpensa Express train to Saronno, then change train in Saronno and take the train to Como Lago and get off at Como Borghi or Como Lago station.
LINATE: You can take the metro M4 to San Babila, then M1 to Duomo, then M3 to Centrale FS. Alternatively, you can take the Starfly Bus to go from Linate airport to the train Station in Milano Centrale. From there, you can reach Como by train (see the dedicated section).
ORIO AL SERIO: You can rely on several bus companies that will bring you to the train station of Milano Centrale. Among them: Orio Shuttle and Airport Bus Express. From there, you can reach Como by train (see the dedicated section).
From Milano to Como by train:
From Milano Centrale, you have several trains going directly to Como San Giovanni, the main train station in Como. You can check the timetable from the Trenord or Trenitalia website; bear in mind that Regional trains and TILO (R) are cheaper than Eurocity trains (EC). The ride takes about 40 minutes.
From Milano Garibaldi, the train line S11 (heading to Como San Giovanni or Chiasso) will directly take you to the Como San Giovanni station.
From Milano Cadorna, you can use the train line directed to Como Lago and stop at Como Borghi station, or Como Lago station.
Consider that the meeting location -- the cloister of Sant'Abbondio -- is about 10 minutes walk from Como San Giovanni station, 15 minutes from Como Borghi station and 25 minutes from Como Lago station.
