Transient Universe 2006: the Popular, the not so Popular and the Knowable Unknowns

March 13 & 14, 2006 at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, UC Santa Barbara

Organizers: L. Bildsten, C. Fryer & S. Kulkarni

PROGRAM         LIST OF INVITEES         ABSTRACTS         Virtual Presence

MOTIVATION & PURPOSE: This informal two day workshop is intended to bring together astronomers who monitor the sky for transient phenomena - a field which is poised to take off in the optical band, thanks to the exponential growth in the availability of giga pixel detectors, rapid computing and communication. For somewhat similar technological reasons, decimeter and decameter radio astronomy is also poised to grow in this area.

The workshop will focus on astronomical opportunities with ongoing searches and discuss the possibilities with planned facilities in the near term. We hope to rapidly review the status of 'popular' sources (e.g. GRB afterglows, Supernovae, Machos), less popular events (e.g. Novae, geysers and gushers) and then move onto 'odd' but not hopelessly rare events. The spirit is to anticipate some of the discoveries by extending the astrophysical parameter space of known (or knowable) classes of transients.

This workshop is part of the ongoing KITP Program "The Supernova Gamma Ray Burst Connection" and has received funding Los Alamos National Laboratory. We will follow the well honed KITP tradition of having fewer talks at the expense of long discussions. All talks will be recorded (per KITP tradition) and made available on the web for enjoyment, education and posterity. In lieu of a traditional poster sessions with old-fashioned easels we offer the Virtual Presence (organized by J. Bloom).

MEETING LOCATION: The workshop will be held in Kohn Hall, the home of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP).

Further contact: Shri Kulkarni, srk@astro.caltech.edu

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