Venue
Nordita, Stockholm, Sweden
Scope
Dark Matter (DM) binds our galaxy together and is at the heart of modern cosmology. The current Lambda Cold DM paradigm has had great success on large scales, but a detailed understanding of the distribution of DM on smaller scales is still lacking where new data from Gaia could challenge the CDM scenario or rule out competing models such as warm dark matter. Gaia will measure the proper motion and distances of on the order of a billion stars in the Milky Way's disk, bulge and halo, as well as in a few individual Milky Way satellites. Dynamical modeling of this data will enable us to derive the distribution of DM in the Galaxy enabling us to determine the local dark matter density distribution as well as the halo's global density profile, shape, and the density profiles of dwarf satellites. This will give us an unprecedented opportunity to confront predictions from theory (both in astro-particle physics and astrophysics) with observations. The focus of the workshop is to bring theorists (particle physicists and astrophysicists), modelers, and observers together in order to discuss ideas, methods, and modeling to focus our understanding of the local universe revealed by Gaia at a critical time when the first data from Gaia will become available.
Format
During the program, there will also be a conference (3rd week) and a Gaia Challenge (1st week). We aim at having two presentations a day during the mornings, and free time for discussions and project work during the afternoons. If admitted to the program, you will be welcomed to participate in both the conference and the Gaia Challenge (Separate Application forms will be made available).
| Time | Activity | Topic |
| Oct 10-14 | Gaia Challenge | |
| Oct 17-21 | Dark Matter Astrophysics-Gaia | |
| October 24-29 | Conference | |
| October 31-November 4 | Dark Matter Particle-Gaia | Topic: Model Building, Warm Dark Matter, Interacting Dark matter, exotic Dark Matter |
Conference Dinner, Wednesday 26 October, 7.30 PM
The conference dinner will be at Restaurang Cypern, Valhallavägen 50, within walking distance from Nordita.
Application
If you want to apply for participation in the program, please fill in the application form. You will be informed by the organizers shortly after the application deadline whether your application has been approved. Due to space restrictions, the total number of participants is strictly limited. (Invited speakers are of course automatically approved, but need to register anyway.)
Application deadline: 26 August 2016
A minimum stay of one working week is required and we encourage participants to stay for a period of at least two weeks.
There is no registration fee.
Travel Reimbursement
PhD students and young Postdoc fellows are eligible for travel grants to participate in the program. If you are interested in such a grant, please mark the corresponding field in the application form, briefly summarize your interest in the program in the comments field, and indicate an estimation of your expected travel expenses. Since only a limited number of grants is available, decision concerning the grants will be made on a case-by-case basis and you will be notified shortly after the application deadline.
Accommodation
Nordita provides a limited number of rooms in the Stockholm apartment hotel BizApartments free of charge for accepted participants.
Sponsored by:
