Speaker
Description
The inaugural “Chair of Theoretical Astrophysics of Extrasolar Planets” commences in August 2022 at the University Observatory Munich (USM). The chair (an ecosystem of research groups) includes 4 staff scientists working in theoretical exoplanet atmospheres, observational exoplanet astronomy, planetary & molecular geoscience (in collaboration with Prof. Dieter Braun), and computational fluid dynamics and large-scale climate modelling (in collaboration with PD Dr. Klaus Dolag and Prof. Volker Springel). They are joined by the disk and planet formation research groups of Prof. Barbara Ercolano and Prof. Til Birnstiel. In this overview talk, I will discuss the vision of this new chair, its interdisciplinary and collaborative outlook, the key scientific questions it will pursue, its operational philosophy and how it fits into the European and international research landscape. I will briefly preview the solution to a century-old mathematical problem in classical astronomy that will be discussed at the Munich Joint Astronomy colloquium on 16th December 2021.
