The Department of Physics and Astronomy invites you to attend our 2023 Vaden W. Miles Memorial Lecture as we welcome Prof. Madappa Prakash from Ohio University as he presents Multi-messenger Astronomy and Neutron Stars.

Prof. Prakash is a world expert on nuclear astrophysics, and won the prestigious 2022 Hans A Bethe prize from the American Physical Society for "for fundamental contributions to the physics of hot and dense matter, and their implications for heavy ion collisions and multi-messenger observations of neutron star structure and evolution". 

The Vaden Miles Memorial lecture is an annual public lecture given by high profile physicists established by Mrs. Maxine Miles to commemorate the memory of her husband, Professor Vaden Willis Miles, former faculty in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.  Read more about the history of the event here.

Refreshments will be served at 3:15pm, with proceedings beginning at 3:45pm.  

An RSVP is required.

Abstract: Thanks to multiple astronomical observatories and terrestrial detectors, neutron stars (NSs) can now be observed from signals that include photons, neutrinos, and gravitational waves (GW). The detection of gravitational and electromagnetic (EM) waves from the binary neutron star merger event GW170817 by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration and x-ray pulse variations from NSs observed by the NICER observatory are some examples. Theoretical interpretation of these observations using modern theoretical tools in nuclear and gravitational physics have shed valuable insight into the nature of strong interactions at supra-nuclear densities. Coupled with the discovery of NSs as massive as 2 solar masses from radio pulse observations, inferences of NS radii from GW and EM data are beginning to tightly constrain the equation of state of dense matter. In this talk, I will highlight the prospects for significant advances in hot and dense matter theory, particularly in view of future observations in upgraded GW detectors, and planned new x-ray and radio observatories.