Theoretical Astrophysics Center Seminar

Theoretical Astrophysics Center seminars are a highlighted event featuring a guest speaker each week during the semester. 

Spring 2026 Schedule

Day and TimeMondays at 12:00 pm *unless otherwise specified
Location: Campbell Hall, Room 131 *unless otherwise specified
TAC Director: Dan Kasen

Theoretical Astrophysics Center Seminar Schedule
DateSpeaker (Institution)TitleHost
1/26Yuanhong Qu (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)Nonlinear Propagation of Fast Radio Bursts and the Origin of Long-Period Radio TransientsWenbin Lu
2/2David Vartanyan (University of Idaho)Core Collapse Supernovae:
 A Theoretical Survey for the Transient SkyTianshu Wang
2/9Jesse Han (Stanford)A Supermassive Black Hole in the LMC and How Roman Can Find ItSiyang Li
2/16HolidayHolidayHoliday
2/23TAC Show-And-Tell (No Speaker)No TitleNo Host
3/2Anirudh Patel (Columbia)Nucleosynthesis, Radioactively Powered Transients, and Ultra-Heavy Cosmic Rays From Magnetar EruptionsTBD
3/9Peter Nugent (LBNL)Vibe Coding for Astrophysics: AI-Assisted Development with Roo and ClaudeTBD
3/16Tom Wagg (CCA)From Supernova Feedback to Milky Way Black Holes: Using Cogsworth To Perform Population Synthesis With Galactic DynamicsJessica Lu
3/23Spring BreakSpring BreakSpring Break
3/30Thomas Pfiel (CCA)How Dust Evolution Shapes Protoplanetary Disks - Towards an Understanding of the Initial Conditions for Planet FormationRixin Lu
4/6Elias Most (Caltech)Spacetime In Turmoil: Insights Into Merging Black Holes and Neutron Stars from Computational Relativistic AstrophysicsDan Kasen
4/13Robyn Sanderson (University of Pennsylvania)New Probes of Dark Matter From Innovations In Galactic DynamicsNatasha Abrams
4/20Kyle Rocha (University of California, San Diego)Next-generation binary population synthesis with POSYDON: new insights and challengesAbby Lee
4/27Hila Glanz (Caltech)TBDTBD