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SUMMARY:Gamma Ray Bursts in the Era of Rapid Followup - Carole Mundell (Un
 iversity of Bath)
DTSTART:20160225T160000Z
DTEND:20160225T170000Z
UID:TALK63478@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Simon Hodgkin
DESCRIPTION:Black holes were predicted from Einstein's theory of general r
 elativity one hundred years ago. Over past decades\, significant circumsta
 ntial evidence of their existence - both as remnants of stellar collapse a
 nd at the heart of massive galaxies - has been found\, culminating with th
 e spectacular direct detection of gravitational waves this month from a me
 rging pair of massive stellar black holes. In this talk\, I will present n
 ew insights into explosive transients and relativistic jets launched by ne
 w black holes. In particular\, I will describe recent advances in\nrobotic
  observation of fast transients such as Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB). By develop
 ing of novel optical polarimeters and autonomous real-time followup\, we h
 ave studied directly the magnetic fields predicted to collimate and accele
 rate the ultra-relativistic GRB jets. I will discuss the unexpected dearth
  of bright optical flashes that were predicted to be ubiquitous in the ear
 ly optical afterglow\, produced by the so-called reverse shock\, and intro
 duce a new model that predicts flares at radio and mm wavelengths instead.
  I will finish with a look to the\nfuture\, describing new experiments to 
 search for the optical counterparts of other fast transients such as Fast 
 Radio Bursts and finish with the prospects for time domain astrophysics ac
 ross the electromagnetic spectrum and beyond in the coming decades.
LOCATION:Sackler Lecture Theatre\, IoA (tea at 3:30 pm)
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