Workshop Overview and Logistics

The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) and Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) missions are pleased to announce a joint 2024 workshop. The workshop will be held at The George Washington University in Washington D.C from Monday, 29th of July, 2024 to Thursday, 1st of August, 2024. Registration is free for both in-person and remote attendees.

The first 3 days of the workshop will be held in hybrid format, and participants who cannot attend in person will be able to attend virtually. During this time there will be presentations on the missions status, latest calibration, and GO programs. There will also be invited and solicited science talks and poster presentations. The fourth day of the workshop is an in-person only hands-on session for data analysis, where NICER and IXPE experts will guide participants through the analysis of data from various source classes. Registration deadline for in-person attendance is July 1st, while for remote attendance is July 26th. We especially welcome users new to NICER/IXPE data analysis to attend the workshop.

The primary objective of the workshop is to introduce mission capabilites, discuss data analysis techniques and new science results that maximize use of the unique capabilities of both mission, as well as highlight synergies between them. The workshop will also update the community on opportunities to propose for time on both missions through the General Observer Program, and provide ample time for questions, discussion and networking. We anticipate that the program will provide a showcase for possible uses of NICER and IXPE for the community's scientific investigations.

Presentation topics will include, but are not limited to:

• Mission Overview
• Calibration and Software Tools
• Data Analysis and Tutorials
• General Observer Program and Target of Opportunity Requests
• Magnetars and Rotation-powered Pulsars
• X-ray Binaries
• Supernova Remnants, Pulsar Wind Nebulae, and other extended galactic sources
• Blazars, Active Galaxies, and Quasars
• Tidal Disruption Events, Quasi-periodic Eruptions, and Changing-look AGN
• Multimessenger Astronomy
• Galaxy Clusters and Extragalactic Extended Sources

For any questions related the workshop, please email the organizing committee

Mission Overview

NICER is a non-imaging X-ray telescope mounted onboard the International Space Station. It is sensitive to X-ray photons in the energy range 0.2-12 keV and boasts the largest effective area of any instrument up to 5 keV, a factor 2 larger than XMM-Newton. It provides timing accuracy as well as CCD-level spectral resolution. NICER's narrow field of view of about 30 arcmin^2, large effective area, and low background results in a high dynamic range of sensitivity. NICER can detect a 10 microCrab X-ray source at the 5-sigma level in a 10 ks exposure. Taking advantage of its host spacecraft orbit and its own agility, NICER can observe any non-sun-constrained target multiple times a day. Thus, NICER is the most versatile soft X-ray instrument in operation today capable of providing spectro-temporal data for a wide range of scientific investigations.

IXPE is a NASA Small Explorer Mission resulting from the collaboration of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, the Italian Space Agency, and other partners. IXPE has been successfully performing science operations since January 2022, with a General Observer program that started in 2024. IXPE provides unique and powerful X-ray polarization capabilities and has been providing crucial insights into our understanding of X-ray production and the geometry of multiple classes of objects such as neutron stars and pulsar wind nebulae, as well as stellar and supermassive black holes, among others. Overall, IXPE provides simultaneous imaging, spectral, timing, and polarization data for 2-8 keV X-rays.

The complimentary aspects of NICER and IXPE are nicely demonstrated through the many simultaneous observing campaigns of different source classes; NICER provides the count statistics and soft spectral coverage throughout any IXPE observing run, to help disentangle the, sometimes time-varying, contribution from the different emission components, while IXPE provides their unique polarization properties. Hence, the combination of the two telescopes yields an unprecedented spectral-timing-polarization view of the cosmos.

Abstract Submission and Registration

Registration is open for everyone at the Registration Page. The meeting link will be sent via e-mail before the start of the meeting to all registered participants. Registration is free for both in-person and remote attendees.

Abstract submission is open for everyone at the Abstract Submission Page. We strongly encourage those with a contributed talk or poster presentation to attend the workshop in-person.

Deadlines

Sunday, June 2nd 2024: Abstract submission deadline for talks (extended!)

Monday, July 1st 2024: Abstract submission deadline for posters

Monday, July 1st 2024: Registration deadline for in person attendence

Friday, July 26th 2024: Registration deadline for virtual attendence

Invited Speakers

Zaven Arzoumanian (NASA/GSFC)	Keith Arnaud (NASA/GSFC & UMD)	Mason Ng (MIT)
Michael Corcoran (NASA/GSFC & CUA)	Steven Ehlert (NASA/MSFC)	Niccolo' di Lalla (Stanford)
Craig Markwardt (NASA/GSFC)	Phil Kaaret (NASA/MSFC)	Alessandro Di Marco (INAF)
Elizabeth Ferrara (NASA/GSFC & UMD)	Douglas Swartz (NASA/MSFC)	Abderahmen Zoghbi (NASA/GSFC)
Keith Gendreau (NASA/GSFC)	Allyn Tennant (NASA/MSFC)	Matteo Bachetti (INAF)
Kavitha Arur (NASA/GSFC & UMBC)	George Younes (NASA/GSFC & GWU)	Daniela Huppenkothen (SRON)
Megan DeCesar (NRL)	Jack Steiner (CfA)

Meeting Program

Please note that the program is subject to change. All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

Date	Time	Presenter	Title
Monday July 29
Morning Session I NICER Overview 8:45am - 10:30am Chair: Elizabeth Ferrara
	8:45 - 9:00	Welcome Remarks
	9:00 - 9:30	Keith Gendreau	The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer Mission: Status Updates (pptx)
	9:30 - 10:00	Zaven Arzoumanian	The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer Mission Operations (pptx)
	10:00 - 10:30	Craig Markwardt	NICER Calibration, Data Reduction and Cleaning (pptx)
10:30am - 11:00am : Morning Coffee Break
Morning Session II NICER Data Analysis 11:00am - 12:30pm Chair: Zaven Arzoumanian
	11:00 - 11:30	Craig Markwardt	High level NICER data products (pptx)
	11:30 - 12:00	Craig Markwardt	Pitfalls in NICER data analysis (pptx)
	12:00 - 12:30	Q&A and discussion
12:30pm - 2:00pm : Lunch Break
Afternoon Session I NICER General Observer Program 2:00pm - 3:30pm Chair: Paul Ray
	2:00 - 2:30	Elizabeth Ferrara	NICER General Observer Program (pdf)
	2:30 - 3:00	George Younes	NICER Proposal Feasibility (pdf)
	3:00 - 3:15	Poster flash talks
	3:15 - 3:30	Geethu Prabakar	Discovery of Relativistic Disk-Wind in X-ray Binary Systems for the first time: Wind-regulated accretion in 4U 1543-47 (pdf)
3:30pm - 4:00pm : Afternoon Coffee Break
Afternoon Session II NICER Science 4:00pm - 5:45pm Chair: Katja Pottschmidt
	4:00 - 4:15	Philipp Thalhammer	The giant outburst of EXO 2030+375: Spectral and pulse profile evolution (pdf)
	4:15 - 4:30	Alex van Kooten	The Long-Term Spectral and Temporal Evolution of the Swift J1818.0-1607 Magnetar Outburst (pptx)
	4:30 - 4:45	Joanna Berteaud	Exploring the neutron star interior with Wafle (pptx)
	4:45 - 5:00	Arianna C Albayati	A NICER Understanding of how Type-I X-ray Bursts Interact with Accretion Disks (slides)
	5:00 - 5:15	Constantinos Kalapotharakos	Revolutionizing the inference of mass, radius, and magnetic field structure of neutron stars using NICER and Fermi-LAT data (pptx)
	5:15 - 5:30	Nazma Islam	X-Rays from RS Ophiuchi's 2021 Eruption: Shocks In and Out of Ionization Equilibrium (pdf)
	5:30 - 5:45	Zikun Lin	Unraveling the hybrid origins of the X-ray non-thermal emission from IGR J17091-3624 (pptx)
Tuesday July 30
Morning Session I IXPE Overview 9:00am - 10:30am Chair: Kavitha Arur
	9:00 - 9:30	Phil Kaaret	The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer Mission Overview (pdf)
	9:30 - 10:00	Steven Ehlert	Introduction to polarization (pdf)
	10:00 - 10:30	Douglas Swartz	IXPE calibration and introduction to FTOOLs (pdf)
10:30am - 11:00am : Morning Coffee Break
Morning Session II Data Analysis using ixpeobssim 11:00am - 12:30pm Chair: Steven Ehlert
	11:00 - 11:30	Niccolo' di Lalla	Introduction to ixpeobssim & simulation capabilities (pdf)
	11:30 - 12:00	Mason Ng	ixpeobssim for data analysis (pptx)
	12:00 - 12:30	Q&A and discussion
12:30pm - 2:00pm : Lunch Break
Afternoon Session I IXPE Operations & GO Program 2:00pm - 3:30pm Chair: Unnati Kashyap
	2:00 - 2:30	Kavitha Arur	IXPE General Observer Program (pptx)
	2:30 - 3:00	Allyn Tennant	IXPE Mission Operations (pdf)
	3:00 - 3:30	Alessandro Di Marco	Dealing with background in IXPE data analysis (pdf)
3:30pm - 4:00pm : Afternoon Coffee Break
Afternoon Session II IXPE Science 4:00pm - 5:30pm Chair: Mason Ng
	4:00 - 4:15	Brian Humensky	ACROSS: Enabling Time Domain and Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (pdf)
	4:15 - 4:30	Ed Nathan	Polarised X-ray Reflection: Creating polarised XILLVER tables (pdf)
	4:30 - 4:45	Rwitika Chatterjee	Spectro-polarimetric study of GX 9+9 using IXPE and AstroSat (pdf)
	4:45 - 5:00	Yash Bhargava	X-ray Polarization in Neutron star Low mass X-ray Binary GX 340+0 (pptx
	5:00 - 5:15	Sohee Chun	Spectropolarimetric Studies of Truncated Disk-Hot Inner Flow Geometry for Hard State Black Hole X-Ray Binaries (pptx)
	5:15 - 5:30	Lizhong Zhang	Understanding the Supercritical Accretion onto the Strongly Magnetized Neutron Stars (pptx)
Wednesday July 31
Morning Session I NICER/IXPE Science 9:00am - 10:30am Chair: Jack Steiner
	9:00 - 9:15	Yanan Wang	Rapid Dimming Followed by a State Transition: A Study of the Highly Variable Nuclear Transient AT 2019avd over 1000+ Days (pdf)
	9:15 - 9:30	Federico Adrian Fogantini	Simultaneous NICER and NuSTAR observations of the ultraluminous source NGC 4190 ULX-1 (pdf)
	9:30 - 9:45	Nicole Ford	Constraining the Accretion and Jet Properties of Next Gen. EHT Targets with NICER and NuSTAR (pptx)
	9:45 - 10:00	Alessandro Di Marco	First detection of X-ray polarization in the UCXB 4U 1820-30 with IXPE (pdf)
	10:00 - 10:15	Fabio La Monaca	IXPE Highly Significant Detection of Polarization in Scorpius X-1 (pdf)
	10:15 - 10:30	Aru Beri	A holistic View of X-ray Binaries (pdf)
10:30am - 11:00am : Morning Coffee Break
Morning Session II Data Analysis Tools & Techniques 11:00am - 12:30pm Chair: Malu Sudha
	11:00 - 11:30	Michael Corcoran	Introduction to X-ray data (pdf)
	11:30 - 12:00	Abderahmen Zoghbi	Introduction to Sciserver (pptx)
	12:00 - 12:30	Keith Arnaud	Introduction to XSPEC (ppt)
	12:30 - 12:45	Michela Negro	The IXPE Quick Look Tool
12:30pm - 2:00pm : Lunch Break
Afternoon Session I X-ray Timing Analysis 2:00pm - 3:30pm Chair: George Younes
	2:00 - 2:30	Matteo Bachetti and Daniela Huppenkothen	An introduction to X-ray timing analysis using Stingray (pdf)
	2:30 - 3:00	Megan DeCesar	An introduction to pulsar timing analysis with PINT (pdf)
	3:00 - 3:30	Jack Steiner	Synergies between Spectroscopy and Polarimetry using NICER and IXPE to Explore Accreting Stellar-Mass Black Holes (pptx)
3:30pm - 4:00pm : Afternoon Coffee Break
Afternoon Session II NICER Science II 4:00pm - 5:30pm Chair: Nicole Ford
	4:00 - 4:15	Suchismito Chattopadhyay	On the spectro-temporal difference in origin of the kHz QPO and noise component in 4U 1702-429 using AstroSat and NICER (pdf)
	4:15 - 4:30	Holger Stiele	Evolution of QPOs and spectral properties during X-ray binary outburst (pdf)
	4:30 - 4:45	Candela Bellavita	The nature of an imaginary quasi-periodic oscillation in the soft-to-hard transition of MAXI J1820+070 (pdf)
	4:45 - 5:00	Kewal Anand	Constraining the neutron star mass and moment of inertia from QPO triplets observed in 4U 1728-34 (pdf)
	5:00 - 5:15	Ole Konig	Spectral-Timing Analysis of Swift J1727.8-1613 with NICER (pdf)
	5:15 - 5:30	Shafqat Riaz	Unveiling Systematic Uncertainties in X-ray Reflection Spectroscopy: Implications for Black Hole Spin Measurements (pdf)
Thursday August 1
All day 9:00am - 5:30pm
	9:00 - 5:30	Various instructors	In person only: Hands-on data analysis tutorials using NICER and IXPE data (tutorial notebooks)

Local Information

Workshop Location:

The meeting will take place at the Corcoran Hall on George Washington University's campus in Room 101 on the first floor. The address is 725 21st Street NW, Washington, DC, 20052. It is a short 9 minute walk (0.4 miles) from the Foggy Bottom metro station (orange, silver, and blue lines) or a 15 minute walk (0.7 miles) from the Farragut North Metro Station (red line).

Transportation Information:

If you are arriving by plane: If flying into Dulles (IAD) or Washington National (DCA) airports, you can take the metro to the Foggy bottom metro station, silver line or blue and orange line, respectively. If flying into Baltimore airport (BWI) you can take the MARC train from BWI to Union Station. From there you can ride the red-line metro to Farragut North or transfer at Metro Center to the blue, silver, or orange line and exit at the Foggy bottom station.

If you are arriving by car, you can park at any of the GWU garages. The current rates are $24 for durations >2 hours. GW parking at:

Science and Engineering Hall Garage

University Student Center Garage

G Street Garage

Elliot School Garage

There are also many other garages within walking distance to the venue that afford an early bird rate, typically around $13 for the full day if parked before around 9 am.

If you are arriving by Metro: Take the metro to either the Foggy Bottom metro station or the Farragut North Metro Station.

A guide to the DC metro for visitors can be found here, along with metro maps and a trip planner.

Generally, Uber/Lift/Taxis are easy to get in and around DC, so this is also an option if you prefer.

Hotels:

Walkable to GWU: ARC hotel, Hotel HIVE, State Plaza Hotel.

Hotels within walking distance to a nearby metro station:

Sonesta Select Rosslyn (walking distance to Rosslyn metro, 1 stop away from Foggy Bottom)

Hilton Garden Inn Arlington Courthouse Plaza (walking distance to Courthouse metro, 2 stops away from Foggy Bottom)

Placemakr Dupont Circle (Walking distance to Dupont Metro, 1 stop from Farragut North, can also walk to GWU ~20 mins, 0.8 miles)

Code of Conduct

The workshop organizers are committed to making this meeting productive and enjoyable for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, nationality or religion. We will not tolerate harassment of participants in any form. All conference participants must adhere to the IAU code of conduct. Participants asked to stop any inappropriate behavior are expected to comply immediately. Attendees violating these rules may be asked to leave the event at the sole discretion of the organizers.

Organizing Committee

The Organizing Committee consists of: George Younes, Kavitha Arur, Zaven Arzoumanian, Elizabeth Ferrara, Jeremy Hare, Yannis Liodakis, Michela Negro, Rachael Stewart and Douglas Swartz