Newsroom
Stay informed with our latest news and announcements on this page. For more in-depth content, we also encourage visitors to explore our bimonthly STRUCTURES Newsletter magazine, which features a variety of articles, interviews with members, and background information on our latest research and activities.
An international research team under participation of STRUCTURES member Fabian Schneider discovered a “dormant” black hole in a binary-star system outside our galaxy. These black holes are very difficult to find because they do not emit X-ray radiation.
In their study, published in Nature Astronomy, the researchers reported the first discovery of a ‘dormant’ stellar-mass black hole, VFTS243, outside the Milky Way galaxy, based on observations with ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT). Stellar-mass black holes form when massive stars collapse under their own gravity at the end of their lives. If this happens in a binary system, the resulting black hole will be orbiting a luminous companion star. Such black holes often accrete material from their companion and emit powerful X-rays, but a “dormant” black hole does not. Astronomers suspect that many more dormant black holes exist than previously thought. The team also found that the star that gave rise to VFTS243 disappeared without evidence of a strong supernova explosion, indicating a ‘direct-collapse’ scenario. The new results have significant implications for the origin of black-hole mergers in the cosmos.
Original Publication (July 18, 2022):
Shenar et al: An X-ray quiet black hole born with a negligible kick in a massive binary within the LMC. Nature Astronomy.
On July 22, Prof. Dr. Sebastian Hensel (LMU Munich) will give a public talk (in German) on “Von Sphären, Schleifen und Flüssen: die Poincaré-Vermutung und die Form des Raums” as part of our event series on the Poincaré conjecture in the context of the nationwide Millennium Prize Problems Mathfest. This talk is aimed at everyone who is curious about topology and at high school students (Oberstufe). After the talk, there will be the opportunity to talk to the lecturer and other scientific experts and to participate in a hands-on exploration of geometry and topology at the Heidelberg Experimental Geometry Lab (HEGL).
For details, please see the event page of the Research Station Geometry & Dynamics and the press release (German).
We are happy to present the seventh volume of the STRUCTURES Newsletter, which features the following topics:
- 1. STRUCTURES Short News July 2022
- 2. From CP4: Simulating a Quantum Field in Curved and Expanding Spacetimes
- 3. We Are STRUCTURES
- 4. STRUCTURES Asks: Björn Malte Schäfer
The STRUCTURES Project Management Office is happy to answer questions and to receive feedback.
We are happy to invite all STRUCTURES members, their families and friends to the STRUCTURES summer party 2022 on July 15, from 5:00 pm. It will take place in the atrium of Mathematikon, INF 205. We would be happy if you join us for nice chats, finger food, and summer drinks.
The STRUCTURES Project Management Office is happy to answer questions.
In July, we proudly present two talks in Heidelberg on the Poincaré Conjecture, one of the seven famous, complex “Millennium Prize Problems” defined by the Clay Mathematics Institute in 2000. On July 15 and 22, respectively, Prof. Dr. Markus Banagl (Uni Heidelberg) and Prof. Dr. Sebastian Hensel (LMU Munich) will give insights into this intriguing subject and recent developments in the field. After the talk on July 22, there will be the opportunity to talk to the lecturer and other scientific experts and to participate in a hands-on exploration of geometry and topology at the Heidelberg Experimental Geometry Lab (HEGL). These events are part of a nationwide Millennium Prize Problems celebration. The solution to each of these problems carries a prize of 1 million USD. Among them, only the Poincaré conjecture has been fully resolved. Established by Henri Poincaré in 1904 and proved by Grigori Perelman in 2003, it states that every finite three-dimensional space without boundary, on whose surface every loop can be continuously contracted to a point, must have the form of a three-dimensional sphere.
Details on the programme can be found on the event page of the Research Station Geometry & Dynamics.
Please also see the associated press release (German).
Differential Geometry Seminar by Richard Kenyon: “Dimers, webs and SLn local systems” on July 7
We cordially invite you to attend the talk by visiting guest professor Richard Kenyon (Yale) in the Differential Geometry Seminar on July 7, 1:00 - 2:00 PM at the Mathematical Institute in Seminarraum A:
Title: Dimers, webs and SLn local systems
Abstract: We consider SLn-local systems on graphs on surfaces and show how the associated Kasteleyn matrix can be used to compute probabilities of various topological events involving the overlay of n independent dimer covers (or “n-webs”). This is joint work with Dan Douglas and Haolin Shi.
For more information, please visit the seminar web page.
On behalf of the Research Station: Geometry and Dynamics and the Cluster of Excellence: STRUCTURESwe are happy to announce that the registration for the “Workshop on Geometry and Machine Learning” (July 11–13, HITS) is open. This workshop will bring together researchers and practitioners of Geometry and Machine Learning to interact and exchange ideas.
You can register on: https://gaml.mathi.uni-heidelberg.de/
The deadline for registration is Sunday, June 26th, 2022.