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Community & Outreach

Outreach — 2021

September 20, 2021 outreach
Shandera appointed director of Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos
The Internal Advisory Board of the Penn State Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (IGC) has selected Sarah Shandera, associate professor of physics, as the …
September 14, 2021 outreach
Event to Commemorate 3 Decades of IGC
On September 14, 2021, IGC held an event to commemorate Professor Abhay Ashtekar's tenure as the founding Director of the institute which he has led …
Six Lectures at the United Center for Gravitational Waves Summer School; August 2021
August 12, 2021 outreach
Six Lectures at the United Center for Gravitational Waves Summer School; August 2021
Since the first detection of Gravitational Waves six years ago, the field has literally exploded in multiple directions that include multi-wavelength astronomy and astrophysics, approximation …
First detection of light echoes from behind a black hole
July 28, 2021 outreach
First detection of light echoes from behind a black hole
Light cannot escape from a black hole, but for the first time ever, researchers have observed light from behind a black hole — a scenario …
Observation of gravitational waves from two neutron star-black hole mergers
July 2, 2021 outreach
Observation of gravitational waves from two neutron star-black hole mergers
The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Scientific Collaboration, has announced the discovery of two neutron star-black hole mergers in the data from the third observing run, separated by 10 …
Listening to the Universe with New Gravitational Wave Observatories
May 1, 2021 outreach
Listening to the Universe with New Gravitational Wave Observatories
B. Sathyaprakash is a lead author on the cover story of the May 2021 issue of Nature Physics Reviews on the future of gravitational-wave astronomy. …
Abhay Ashtekar delivered a Colloquium to the Consortium of Brazilian Universities and Research Institutes drawn from all Brazilian Provinces on April 7th 2021: 'Black Holes, Big Bang and Gravitational Waves: Examples of Paradigm Shifts in Science'
April 7, 2021 outreach
Abhay Ashtekar delivered a Colloquium to the Consortium of Brazilian Universities and Research Institutes drawn from all Brazilian Provinces on April 7th 2021: 'Black Holes, Big Bang and Gravitational Waves: Examples of Paradigm Shifts in Science'
Big Bang, Black Holes, Big Bang and Gravitational Waves now appear as compelling –even obvious– consequences of general relativity. Therefore it may seem surprising that …
Abhay Ashtekar gave the Inaugural Interview in the series “On the Shoulders of Giants” to Nawat@nuscidev.or
March 4, 2021 outreach
Abhay Ashtekar gave the Inaugural Interview in the series “On the Shoulders of Giants” to Nawat@nuscidev.or
An Arabian initiative to promote forefront science in the regional Universities and Research Institutes, on the theme Einstein’s Cosmos and the Quantum on March 4th …
Professor Stephanie Wissel’s Antarctic balloon mission was chosen for NASA Pioneers program
February 9, 2021 outreach
Professor Stephanie Wissel’s Antarctic balloon mission was chosen for NASA Pioneers program
Professor Wissel and her team in the IGC will search for the highest energy neutrinos using the long duration balloon experiment, PUEO, flown in Antarctica. …
Abhay Ashtekar featured in the Oral History Program
February 3, 2021 outreach
Abhay Ashtekar featured in the Oral History Program
Abhay Ashtekar was interviewed by the American Institute of Physics under their Oral History Program which aims to “offer unique insights into the lives, works, …
January 1, 2021 outreach
2001-2005 Outreach (redirect to old site)
January 1, 2021 outreach
2001-2005 Outreach (redirect to old site)
January 1, 2021 outreach
2001-2005 Outreach (redirect to old site)
January 1, 2021 outreach
2006-2010 Outreach (redirect to old site)
January 1, 2021 outreach
2006-2010 Outreach (redirect to old site)
January 1, 2021 outreach
2006-2010 Outreach (redirect to old site)
January 1, 2021 outreach
2006-2010 Outreach (redirect to old site)
January 1, 2021 outreach
2006-2010 Outreach (redirect to old site)
January 1, 2021 outreach
2011-2015 Outreach (redirect to old site)
January 1, 2021 outreach
2011-2015 Outreach (redirect to old site)
January 1, 2021 outreach
2011-2015 Outreach (redirect to old site)
January 1, 2021 outreach
2011-2015 Outreach (redirect to old site)
January 1, 2021 outreach
2011-2015 Outreach (redirect to old site)
Eberly College of Science 2021 Frontiers of Science Lecture Series entitled “Sustainability: How Science Can Help Achieve the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals”
January 1, 2021 outreach
Eberly College of Science 2021 Frontiers of Science Lecture Series entitled “Sustainability: How Science Can Help Achieve the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals”
The series will consist of 6 public lectures, held on consecutive Saturdays via Zoom.

Seminars

IGC seminar series and recent talks.

Fundamental Theory Seminar

Friday · 10:30 - 11:45 PM · 339 Davey / Zoom

Seminars and discussion on classical and quantum gravity as well as cosmology and string theory.

Date Speaker Title Location
Apr 29, 2022 Eric Bellm, University of Washington Preparing for Time-Domain Science with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory 339 Davey Lab, Zoom: https://psu.zoom.us/j/94169688126?pwd=R2tzK2xNQ1VCWFFOblp4Rmo1VVpRUT09&from=addon

HEPAP/CMA Seminar

Tuesday · 1:30 - 2:30 PM · 339 Davey Lab/Zoom

Weekly seminar hosted jointly by the Center for Multimessenger Astrophysics and the High Energy Physics Group.

Date Speaker Title Location
Apr 26, 2022 Mariangela Lisanti, Princeton University Galactic Probes of Dark-Sector Physics https://psu.zoom.us/j/93641512423

International Loop Quantum Gravity Seminar

Tuesday · 10:00 - 12:30 PM · via Zoom

(Meets every other week)

No seminars recorded yet.

Primordial Universe and Gravity (PUG) Discussions

Monday · 2:30 - 3:30 PM · via Zoom

Informal discussion of primordial universe and gravity topics.

Date Speaker Title Location
Apr 25, 2022 Victoria Niu Implement Probability Estimator of Astronomical Events in G-wave search https://psu.zoom.us/j/98243446240?pwd=TlMyN3lNU09ZVHYxT2U3OU9CcmdKQT09
Apr 4, 2022 Ish Gupta Using Fisher information matrix for gravitational-wave parameter-estimation Zoom Link: https://psu.zoom.us/j/98243446240?pwd=TlMyN3lNU09ZVHYxT2U3OU9CcmdKQT09

Special Topics

Varying days, · Varying times, · Varying locations.

IGC meetings on special topics

Date Speaker Title Location
Apr 26, 2022 Chad Hanna Test 2
Apr 25, 2022 Chad Hanna Test 1
Feb 17, 2022 Bryce Cousins, Doug Cowen, Becca Ewing, Fe McBride, Kohta Murase, Hugo Solares, Stephanie Wissel AMON Future Directions Focus Sessions 339 Davey (Feb 17, Feb 21), 320 Whitmore (Feb 18)

Organizations

APS-IDEA
APS-IDEA
The Penn State Physics department is a member of the APS Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Alliance (APS-IDEA). APS-IDEA is a new initiative with a mission of empowering and supporting physics …
Conference for Undergrad Women in Physics
Conference for Undergrad Women in Physics
The goal of APS CUWiP is to help undergraduate women continue in physics by providing them with the opportunity to experience a professional conference, information about graduate school and professions …
Physics and Astronomy for Women+
Physics and Astronomy for Women+
PAW+ (Physics and Astronomy for Women+) is a club of undergraduates, grad students, and post-docs dedicated to advancing the status of women, gender minorities, and underrepresented groups in Physics and …
Rainbow Science Network
Rainbow Science Network
The Rainbow Science Network is a list of research groups committed to maintaining an inclusive environment, where faculty members have received training in LGBTQ+ issues.
The Society of Physics Students (SPS)
The Society of Physics Students (SPS)
The Society of Physics Students (SPS) is a club at Penn State dedicated to bringing together those interested in physics. Anyone with any level of knowledge in physics (even none) …
About our wordmark
Monica Rincon Ramirez

The IGC wordmark was created by Monica Rincon Ramirez while she was a graduate student at the Institute. Monica enjoys drawing new connections between fundamental theory and observations. Her graduate work included general relativity, loop quantum gravity, and quantum fields in cosmological backgrounds; her thesis focused on effective quantum corrections to gravitational phenomena from spinfoams and applications to cosmology. She received her PhD in 2024.

The wordmark symbolizes the scope of research at the IGC. The base represents quantum gravity, evoking the quantum geometrical picture from spinfoams and loop quantum gravity — approaches studied at the Center for Fundamental Theory. The middle shows galaxies embedded in a smooth surface characteristic of spacetime in general relativity and the larger physical scales studied at the Center for Theoretical and Observational Cosmology. The top curves to an extreme representing a supermassive black hole accompanied by an energetic jet, with a binary black hole pair nearby — the high-energy phenomena studied at the Center for Multimessenger Astrophysics.