Imagining the Future: Gravitational Wave Astronomy
 

Center For Gravitational Wave Physics
Penn State University
27-30 October 2004
 
Contents: Registration; Accommodations; Sessions and Speakers
Contact the
 
Program Committee:
Matt Benacquista (Montana State University-Billings)
Neil Cornish (Montana State University-Bozeman)
Lee Samuel Finn (Penn State Center for Gravitational Wave Physics)
Vicky Kalogera (Northwestern University)
Michelle Larson (Penn State Center for Gravitational Wave Physics)
 

Overview:
Twenty years from now the field of gravitational wave astronomy will be an established component of multi-messenger astronomy. Gravitational Wave astronomers, working with ground and spaced-based detectors, will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with gamma-ray, x-ray, optical, infrared and radio astronomers in exploring the cosmos.

The workshop Imagining the Future: Gravitational Wave Astronomy will bring together gravitational wave astronomers with astronomers from allied fields (e.g., gamma-ray, X-ray, and radio astronomy) to envision the future of gravitational wave astronomy and its integration with other fields of astronomy. Imagining the future takes us beyond the confines of our current research, and encourages us to view our activities as part of a larger landscape.

It is clearly impossible to accurately predict the development of a new field twenty years into the future; nevertheless, the exercise of forecasting can help to make clear the broader needs of the feild as a whole, so that they are more likely to be there when we need them, and help us recognize future opportunities, so that we may exploit them when they arise.

And this is the goal of this workshop: to begin the act of imagining what the future can be, so that we can learn where we could like to go. The workshop will not be in any way prescriptive, nor will it attempt to "organize" the community into "structures". Instead, its aim is to share thoughts on questions like the following:
 
    Twenty years from now
  • What will it mean to be a gravitational wave astronomer?
  • What will be the interplay between gravitational wave astronomy and currently traditional forms of astronomy?
  • How will theory, observation, and instrument development interact within the field?
  • What will be the critical technologies employed for observing in different frequency ranges?
  • What will be the role of individual observatories versus an international network of observatories?
  • What infrastructure will contribute to facilitating broad participation, community growth, and the best possible science?

The workshop will be structured about open discussion(s) by the participants on questions like those above, and on new questions formulated during the meeting. Session chairs will summarize the views expressed, which will be reported back to the participants at the workshops close. Upon acceptance this summary will become available for distribution to the broader astronomy and gravitational physics communities, to funding agencies, and any other interested parties. The intent of the document will be to focus and inspire future discussions during the growth of this new discipline. Formulating a vision framework will encourage us to consider what we should be doing today and tomorrow to make gravitational wave astronomy a reality.
 
Registration and Accommodations:
 
The registration fee for this workshop is $85.00. To pay by credit card follow this link and select the link "Center for Gravitational Wave Physics. If you wish to pay by check or cash please contact the organizers.

There has been a block of rooms reserved at the Hilton Garden Inn, where the workshop will be taking place. The room block will be released on 7 October 2004, please make your reservation before this date. You can contact the Hilton by phone or mail. When making your reservation please refer to the GWAstro workshop room block.
 
The Hilton Garden Inn
1221 E. College Avenue
State College, PA 16801
Phone:814-272-1221
fax:814-272-7777
 
For more information about this focus session, please contact the committee.