The XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre is organising the Science Workshop: Astrophysics of Hot Plasma from Extended X-ray Sources

Hot plasmas dominate the X-ray emission of supernova remnants, much of the interstellar medium in galaxies, galactic halos and winds, and the intra-cluster medium in clusters of galaxies. Plasma characteristics, observed through their X-ray morphology and spectral properties, reveal the physical processes at work and the structure and evolution of these systems. XMM-Newton and Chandra have been accumulating rich resources of emission line spectra with medium and high spectral resolution. Building on this heritage, in the next decade the XRISM mission and the Athena X-ray observatory will yield unprecedented high-spectral resolution mapping of extended sources. Accurate plasma codes will become even more essential for data interpretation. This workshop aims to review our current understanding of these X-ray plasmas, their modelling and their astrophysical implications. The goal is to prepare the younger generation and to foster cooperation between the participants on common astrophysics issues, on plasma code requirements, modelling of X-ray spectra, and data reduction of extended sources.

Topics include:

• Supernova remnants
• Galaxies
• Clusters of galaxies
• Plasma codes
• Plasma modelling and spectral fitting
• Miscellaneous

This is the fifteenth in a series of international conferences designed to provide an informal forum for scientists to present and discuss their research and new developments in a broad spectrum of topic areas of applications of nuclear techniques. With attendance limited to ~100 participants, the relaxed atmosphere of this meeting encourages in-depth discussions and sharing of ideas. Presentations are arranged in morning and late afternoon sessions. Several hours of free time each afternoon provide ample opportunity for attendees to interact with each other or to engage in wide-ranging interdisciplinary discussions in a congenial environment.

For more information please visit the conference website.

Two decades of multi-wavelength studies have greatly expanded our understanding of supermassive black hole growth in the context of galaxy formation. A broadly consistent picture of active black hole demographics has been derived across cosmic time, emphasising the strong evolution of the energetic Universe and its relation to the formation of stars in galaxies.

This progress has also risen new questions and produce new research directions. The significance of obscured accretion, especially in the case of deeply buried systems, remains under discussion. The details of the black-hole growth evolution at early epochs are still debated. The mass and energy budget of winds detected at X-rays, UV, infrared and sub-mm wavelengths remain uncertain. The connection between the different phases of the outflowing material at these different wavelengths is also poorly constrained. Finally at much larger scales, Recent XMM observations revealed a much larger picture of hitherto unseen matter (WHIM).

The aim of this conference is to review and discuss the most recent multi-wavelength observations of supermassive black holes and compare them with simulations and observations. The exciting discovery space that opens with eROSITA, XARM and ATHENA will be a primary part of this meeting.

The key topics covered in this conference will be:

1. Black-hole demographics from multi-wavelength surveys
2. The environment of black holes & WHIM
3. Black-hole growth in the context of galaxy evolution
4. The early Universe
5. Feedback processes and their impact on kpc and Mpc scales
6. Key surveys and new missions, synergies between missions and ground based facilities

Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are the most extreme and powerful emissions of electromagnetic radiation in the Universe. Since their discovery in the late '60s, they constitute one of the most fascinating and mysterious phenomena for modern science, with strong implications for several fields of astrophysics and fundamental physics. This special session will focus on the key-role of GRBs for cosmology and multi-messenger astrophysics. Indeed, the huge luminosity, the redshift distribution extending at least up to z~10 and the association with the explosive death of very massive stars make long GRBs (i.e., those lasting up to a few minutes) potentially extremely powerful cosmological probes (geometry and expansion rate of space-time, "dark energy", early Universe). At the same time, short GRBs (lasting no more than ~1-2s) are the most prominent electromagnetic signature of gravitational-wave sources like NS-NS and NS-BH merging events, and both long/short GRBs are expected to be associated with neutrino emission.

Part of the session will also be dedicated to the exploration of the THESEUS (Transient High-Energy Sky and Early Universe SUrveyor) space mission capabilities in the field of Cosmology and multi-messenger astrophysics with GRBs. THESEUS (https://www.isdc.unige.ch/theseus/) is one of the three Cosmic Vision M5 mission candidates recently selected by ESA to undergo an assessment phase study in view of a launch opportunity in 2032. The broad scientific context of the EWASS will provide us a uniquely well-timed opportunity to: (i) strengthen the involvement of the community in the project, and (ii) boost the synergies being planned between THESEUS and other large facilities that will be operating around 2030 and play a crucial role in the context of GRBs and Cosmology in different energy domains (e.g. LSST, ELT, TMT, Athena, Einstein Telescope, LISA, Km3NET).

The key topics covered in this conference will be:

1. Cosmology with GRBs I: early Universe
2. Cosmology with GRBs II: cosmological parameters and dark energy
3. GRBs and multi-messenger astrophysics I: short GRBs and GW
4. GRBs and multi-messenger astrophysics II: neutrinos, cosmic rays and VHE emission from short/long GRBs
5. The THESEUS mission
6. Present and next generation ground and space facilities for GRBs and multi-messenger astrophysics

An unprecedented new window into astrophysics and observational cosmology was opened by the Hitomi X-ray mission, which used microcalorimeter technology to deliver observations of cosmic sources with < 5 eV spectral resolution. This was game-changing for X-ray astronomy despite Hitomi's short life, enabling novel plasma physical condition and metallicity diagnostics, gas dynamical studies, and searches for fundamental new emission signatures such as the much-debated ~3.5 keV dark matter decay lines predicted by some models in the X-ray regime.

The new X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM - jointly funded by JAXA/NASA/ESA) is due to launch in the early 2020s. Beyond that, we can look forward to Athena, and possibly ARCUS, Super-DIOS or similar missions, in the 2030s to open this new regime wider.

The XCalibur 2019 workshop aims to bring together international experts (with non-experts very welcome) on X-ray spectroscopy to provide a forum for discussing the novel science enabled by these missions, to formulate the best way of exploiting the large new parameter space, and to strategize future observations. The broad themes to be covered include:

• Physics of Extreme Hot Plasmas (clusters, cosmology, WHIM)
• Compact Objects and Gravity (transients, X-ray binaries, AGN, reflection, gas dynamics)
• Life Cycle of Baryons (metal abundances, large scale structures, matter flows)
• Energy flows and Feedback (radiative, kinematic, winds)
• The Search for Dark Matter and New Physics (sterile neutrinos, axions, search for new particles)
• Community Preparation for XRISM and Athena (GO prep., collaboration and coordination strategies, lab tests).

Please pre-register your early interest (no commitment required) since participation is limited at the conference website, starting 25 Nov 2018.

Funding support may be available for a selected number of young scientists (preferentially students), if there are enough participants. Registration fees will be announced in early 2019, and is likely to be around £200 including several meals. We are attempting to minimise registration fees, and your pre-registration will help us in planning this, in addition to ensuring that you are kept informed with regular announcements. We would like to particularly welcome young international scientists interested in the missions mentioned above.

Regular registration opens 10 Jan 2019.

For more information please visit the conference website, or email to xcal2019[AT]gmail.com.

We decided to organize this conference to commemorate 60 years since the first release of the Third Cambridge Catalogue (3C).

The main scientific aims of the meeting are to discuss major advances in studies of interactions between radio sources and their large-scale environments (i.e., feedback processes) in the context of past and anticipated future radio surveys, with special attention devoted to the legacy of the 3C radio sources. Both observational and theoretical points of view will be covered.

We are pleased to offer participants the opportunity to propose special topical sessions that will be more interactive -- see TOPICAL SESSIONS below.

• The Third Cambridge catalogue - historical and future perspectives
• Panchromatic view of past and future radio surveys
• Radio-loud AGN & their environments: non-thermal processes, feedback mechanisms - mergers, shocks, and cavities - ISM and ICM - role of BCGs
• Extragalactic jets at all scales: from the central black hole to the interaction with the large scale environments
• New frontiers of MHD simulations on all scales: jets and outflows, and interactions with their surrounding medium
• The most famous 3C sources: beyond 3C405 (Cygnus A), 3C274 (M87), 3C84 (Perseus A) and the others
• Quasars and Blazars: the heritage of 3C273, 3C279, and 3C454.3

This meeting - fourth in a decadal series of X-ray astronomy conferences held in Bologna - will focus on the contribution of current and past X-ray missions to our knowledge of the hot and energetic Universe, and highlight the results from the ESA and NASA flagships missions XMM-Newton and Chandra in the 20th anniversary of their operation. In the era of multi-messenger and transient astronomy, emphasis will be given to the synergy between observations of cosmic sources in X-rays and other wavelengths and also through gravitational waves. We plan to review the most significant results obtained in recent years and lay out the discovery space offered by future high-energy missions. For more information please visit the conference website, or email to xray2019[AT]inaf.it.

Please save the date!

For more information please visit the conference website, or email the SOC co-chairs: Paul Plucinsky (pplucinsky [AT] cfa [DOT] harvard [DOT] edu) or Andrea Prestwich (aprestwich [AT] cfa [DOT] harvard [DOT] edu).

This symposium follows previous Fermi Symposia at Stanford, CA (February 2007), Washington, DC (November 2009), Rome, Italy (May 2011), Monterey, CA (November 2012), Nagoya, Japan (October 2014), Arlington, VA (November 2015), Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (October 2017), and Baltimore, MD (October 2018).

The two Fermi instruments have been surveying the high-energy sky since August 2008. The Large Area Telescope (LAT) has discovered more than a thousand new sources and many new source classes, bringing the importance of gamma-ray astrophysics to an ever-broadening community. The LAT catalog includes supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae, pulsars, binary systems, novae, several classes of active galaxies, starburst galaxies, normal galaxies, and a large number of unidentified sources. Continuous monitoring of the high-energy gamma-ray sky has uncovered numerous outbursts from a wide range of transients. Fermi LAT's study of diffuse gamma-ray emission in our galaxy revealed giant bubbles shining in gamma rays. The direct measurement of a harder-than-expected cosmic-ray electron spectrum may imply the presence of nearby cosmic-ray accelerators. LAT data have provided stringent constraints on new phenomena such as supersymmetric dark-matter annihilations as well as tests of fundamental physics. The Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) continues to be a prolific detector of gamma-ray transients: magnetars, solar flares, terrestrial gamma-ray flashes and gamma-ray bursts at keV to MeV energies, complementing the higher energy LAT observations of those sources in addition to providing valuable science return in their own right.

All gamma-ray data are made immediately available at the Fermi Science Support Center. These publicly available data and Fermi analysis tools have enabled a large number of important studies. We especially encourage guest investigators worldwide to participate in this symposium to share results and to learn about upcoming opportunities.

This meeting will focus on the new scientific investigations and results enabled by Fermi, the mission and instrument characteristics, future opportunities, and coordinated observations and analyses.

For more information please visit the symposium website.