MeV Astronomy: Unlocking the Multi-Messenger Universe

Splinter Meeting at the 235th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Honolulu, HI.

Monday, January 6, 2020 from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm, Room 303 A
Location: Hawaii Convention Center, 1801 Kalakaua Ave, Honolulu, HI 96815
SOC: Carolyn Kierans and Roopesh Ojha

The MeV domain is one of the most underexplored windows on the Universe. From astrophysical jets and extreme physics of compact objects to a large population of unidentified objects, fundamental astrophysics questions can be addressed by a mission that opens a window into the MeV range. The time is right for an MeV mission like AMEGO. Fermi-LAT observations at GeV energies have opened a window to a rich and varied ensemble of astrophysical sources, and demonstrate the promise of an equally rich return from opening the MeV band. With the discovery of high energy astrophysical neutrinos by IceCube and direct observations of gravitational waves by LIGO we are in the era of multimessenger astronomy. By virtue of its focus on extreme environments, a medium energy gamma-ray surveyor is an excellent partner in these new scientific endeavors. This splinter meeting will seek to further the conversation on the indispensable science motivating new missions in this spectral window.

Speakers

1:00-1:20: On MeV Gamma Rays Accompanying High Energy Cosmic Neutrinos

Prof. Francis Halzen (Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center and University of Wisconsin-Madison)

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1:20-1:40: Probing Hadronic Processes in Blazars with MeV Gamma-rays

Dr. Maria Petropoulou (Princeton University)

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1:40-2:00: Magnetars and Fundamental QED Physics in the MeV Band

Prof. Matthew Baring (Rice University)

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2:00-2:20: Finding the Milky Way's Last Neutron Star Mergers

Prof. Brian Metzger (Columbia University)

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2:20-2:40: Looking Under a Better Lamppost: MeV-scale Dark Matter Candidates

Dr. Regina Caputo (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

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2:40-3:00: Instrumentation for the MeV Domain

Dr. Andreas Zoglauer (University of California at Berkeley)

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