YCAA seminar: “From Comets to Galaxy Clusters - Legacy Surveys with the TolTEC Camera”, Grant Wilson - University of Massachusetts

Event time: 
Tuesday, April 17, 2018 - 2:30pm to 3:30pm
Location: 
Watson Center (WTS), A51 See map
60 Sachem Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Event description: 

Observations at millimeter wavelengths explore both the aftereffects and the precursors of key physical processes that span nearly all spatial scales in the Universe. ALMA has successfully exploited this window in discrete phenomena with its unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution, but with a relatively limited ability to probe the corresponding mesoscale environment due to its small field of view and tremendous over-subscription. In this talk I will describe our plans to explore the millimetric sky at spatial scales that are unavailable to ALMA through future wide-scale observations with the TolTEC camera on the 50m diameter Large Millimeter Telescope. Through a series of publicly-defined and then publicly-available “Legacy Surveys” we plan to use TolTEC to explore such fundamental questions as: What is the origin of the core mass function and what is its relationship to the stellar IMF? What is the role of magnetic fields in shaping filaments and cores? How do massive galaxies build up metals and stellar mass over cosmic time? and What is the relationship between high-mass star forming galaxies and the large scale structure distribution at early cosmic times? This talk will provide a summary of our initially planned legacy surveys and, most importantly, offer an invitation for interested scientists to get involved.