Meetings and Events

Astrostatistics is developing fast as astronomy is confronted to huge volumes of data. This constitutes undoubtly a new era through a move from object- to data-driven astrophysics. The question that needs to be solved is the following: how can we reconnect statistical results obtained by automatic tools such as machine learning or hypothesis testing, with object-driven inferences derived from visual inspection, modelisation or numerical simulation? How do we reconcile a statistical, hence fuzzy, classification with the visual Hubble sequence of galaxies? How do we describe, synthetize, the data cubes (images + spectra) obtained by IFUs? How can we constrain a model of stellar evolution with the statistics of billions of stars? How do we characterize a scaling law in a 4-D or 10-D dimension parameter space? In this workshop, we want to focus particularly on the connection between the tools and the astrophysics, between data analysis and science.

Detailed information can be found here.

Th he decade 2020-2030 will be cosmology’s  new golden age with the launch of two spatial missions dedicated to cosmology, Euclid in 2022 and WFIRST in 2026, and the starting of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) observations in 2022. These international projects, ushering in the era of Big Data for cosmology, will require new statistical methods to tackle computational and theoretical challenges,

Program Outline

4-10 April : School: ADA X school on statistics for cosmology.

20-24 April: Workshop1: Lensing (methodologies in Lensing).

11-15 May: Workshop2: Galaxy Clustering (methodologies in clustering).

25-28 May: Workshop3: Theory and Interpretation of the data.

Detailed information can be found here.

Going into the 2020s, cosmic large scale structure will be mapped with increasing detail by the next generation of observational facilities operating at various wavelengths (radio, optical, infra-red) and exploiting various techniques. Meanwhile, theory and simulations are increasing in sophistication in their ability to describe large-scale structure. These advances could potentially allow greater constraints into cosmological parameters and theories of galaxy evolution.

Topics to be discussed include, but are not limited to:

• Characterizing and modeling the cosmic web
• Observational surveys of the cosmic web, ongoing and planned
• The growth of protoclusters into clusters
• Statistical measurements beyond 2-point
• Galaxy evolution in the context of the cosmic web
• Constrained realization modeling of large-scale structure
• The intergalactic medium tracing the cosmic web
• Exploiting cosmic voids for cosmology

Detailed information can be found here.

Penn State's Center for Astrostatistics is continuing its annual Summer Schools in Statistics for Astronomers designed for graduate students and researchers in astronomy. This is being supplemented with a new additional week-long Summer School in Astroinformatics. Lectures and tutorials are presented by a team of experienced professors in statistics, astronomy, computer science, and informatics. Classroom instruction is interspersed with hands-on analysis of astronomical data with opportunity for discussion of methodological issues.

• Summer School in Statistics: June 1-5 2020.
• Summer School in Astroinformatics: June 8-12 2020.

Detailed information can be found here