A Population Explosion:
The Nature and Evolution of X-ray Binaries in Diverse Environments
28 October - 2 November 2007
St. Petersburg Beach, Florida
First Announcement
This is the first announcement of an international astronomy meeting entitled "A Population Explosion: The Nature and Evolution of X-ray Binaries in Diverse Environments", which will take place from 28 October to 2 November in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida. The University of Florida and the Spitzer Science Center are the co-hosting institutions for this conference.
Scientific Topics
In recent years, technological advances in X-ray astronomy have led to the discovery of a large number of previously undetected high-energy sources, increasing by an order of magnitude the known population of X-ray binaries in the Galaxy. This meeting will address the current state of observational and theoretical research into the X-ray binary population as a whole, incorporating studies of both the previously known, well-studied systems and the newly discovered populations, and examine the feedback and interaction of X-ray binaries with their environment within our own Galaxy and in external galaxies. We would especially like to highlight research on recently discovered populations of accreting binaries, including the faint hard X-ray sources in the Galactic Centre, obscured sources identified with INTEGRAL, supergiant fast X-ray transients, and extragalactic binaries.
Many previous meetings have focussed on the individual processes and properties within an X-ray binary system. However, the dramatic increase in the number and variety of known systems calls for a meeting that takes a broader outlook and addresses the X-ray binary population as a whole and the feedback and interaction of X-ray binaries and associated outflows with the environment, both within our own Galaxy and external systems. We particularly want to highlight information gleaned from observations at “non-traditional'' wavelengths in this field, especially the infrared, and discuss how the current and future large scale surveys at various wavelengths will contribute to our understanding of the X-ray binary population and their environment.
We have established five major topics for this five-day conference, and plan to devote one day to each topic:
- X-ray binary jets at high and low luminosities, and their effect on the XRB environment
- Faint X-ray binary populations, especially the in Galactic Centre
- Obscured populations (INTEGRAL sources, SFXTs)
- Extragalactic X-ray binary populations and ULXs
- X-ray binary population synthesis and stellar evolution
The program will be organized in sessions on each of these topics, beginning with a limited number of invited reviews, then continuing with contributed presentations. We plan to have a strong emphasis on open discussion during the sessions. We will also conduct "poster pops" for all poster contributions, scheduled throughout the course of the meeting. Young researchers especially will be encouraged to contribute talks and posters.
Registration
The deadline for submitting abstracts is 30 June 2007. Presenters can request an oral or poster presentation. The SOC will contact presenters by 31 August with scheduling details for their talk or
poster.
The deadline for registration is 30 June 2007, with a registration fee of $350. Late registrations will be accepted until 15 August 2007 at an increased registration fee of $390.
Participants can register for the conference and submit abstracts via the web through our secure server at
Click on the "Registration" icon in the menu bar.
We may be able to offer limited financial support in the form of a reduction in the registration fee for graduate students or researchers from underrepresented countries who wish to attend the meeting. If you fall into one of these categories, please email us at xraybinary at astro.ufl.edu to express your interest in attending the meeting and requesting financial assistance. We hope to be able to make offers of such assistance by April; therefore if you request support, please wait to submit the formal registration (which requires payment) until we contact you. Of course, we encourage all participants to submit an abstract at any time!
Attendance at the meeting will be limited to 170 participants.
Location and Accommodation
The Conference will take place at The TradeWinds Island Resort, a beachfront conference resort hotel on the island of St. Petersburg Beach. St. Petersburg Beach is a city on the Gulf Coast of Florida, located 30 miles west of Tampa and 120 miles west of Orlando.
We have a block of rooms booked at the hotel; the conference rate is $169/night (plus tax) for up to two adults (plus two children) per room, which includes internet access (both in bedrooms and meeting rooms), parking at the hotel, business center computers and fax machine, and access to all hotel amenities. To make your reservations at the TradeWinds, please call 1-800-808-9833 (within the US), or 1-727-367-6461 (from outside the US). Alternatively you can send a fax to 1-727-363-222 or email groupreservations at twresort.com. In all cases, state that you are attending the "Population Explosion" meeting in order to get the conference rate. Please note that late October is the beginning of the 'high season' in Florida, so we recommend that you make your hotel booking early!
Attendees can request a room with two beds if they want to share. Larger suite-sized rooms are also available for attendees who plan to bring their families along; please enquire for rates on these rooms when making your reservations. Childcare is also available at the hotel; please ask for hours and rates when calling the hotel.
Scientific Organizing Committee
Stefanie Wachter (Spitzer Science Center/Caltech)
Reba Bandyopadhyay (University of Florida)
Sera Markoff (University of Amsterdam)
Jocelyn Bell Burnell (University of Oxford)
Philipp Podsiadlowski (University of Oxford)
Tom Maccarone (University of Southampton)
Rob Fender (University of Southampton)
Michael Muno (Caltech)
John Tomsick (University of California, Berkeley)
Saku Vrtilek (Harvard/CfA)
Phil Charles (SAAO)
Local Organizing Committee
Reba Bandyopadhyay (University of Florida)
Dawn Gelino (Michelson Science Center/Caltech)
Steve Eikenberry (University of Florida)
Valerie Mikles (University of Florida)
Miguel Charcos (University of Florida)
Don Hoard (Spitzer Science Center/Caltech)
Rob Hynes (Lousiana State University)
Bruno Ferreira (University of Florida)
Jorge Pérez Gallego (University of Florida)
Expression of Interest
If you would like to receive the second announcement for the meeting, please send email to xraybinary at astro.ufl.edu and indicate that you would like to be kept on the mailing list for this conference.
Contact
For further information or inquiries about the conference, please email xraybinary at astro.ufl.edu.
We look forward to having a fun and productive conference!
Sincerely,
Reba Bandyopadhyay
Stefanie Wachter
Dawn Gelino
On behalf of the SOC & LOC for “A Population Explosion”
