Registration is now open for the conference "Extremely Big Eyes on the Early Universe," to be held at Kavli IPMU, March 25 - 29, 2019. The procedure is such that you should first register and then submit an abstract if you would like to be considered for a contributed talk or present a poster. The abstract deadline is December 1st. We will notify those that are selected for a talk at the beginning of January. 

TMT-J will provide a travel support for a limited  number of Japanese researchers (especially for students and postdocs) . To request the support, please submit the form below.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfkcV9cx5dTFQWkGxBcug7b7S9c9OMWzt9Y_nk1xG8Ifhpo6w/viewform

*There are also limited funds available for overseas participants to help offset the local expenses. Please contact us (seminar@ipmu.jp) if you would like to request such support. We cannot guarantee the support until we receive the total number of requests.

We encourage you to book hotel rooms well in advance of the meeting.

If there are any questions, feel free to contact us at seminar@ipmu.jp

Confirmed Invited Speakers:

Ho Seong Hwang, Taddy Kodama, Lei Hao, Luis Ho, Lisa Kewley, Ji-Hoon Kim, Kyung-Soo Lee, Li-Hwai Lin, Masami Ouchi, Byung-Gon Park, Yingjie Peng, X. Jason Prochaska, Alvio Renzini, Wiphu Rujopakarn, Emma Ryan-Weber, Prajval Shastri, Tomo Usuda, Emily Wisnioski

Organizers:

John Silverman (co-chair) ,
Nobunari Kashikawa (co-chair),
Karl Glazebrook
Myungshin Im
Lisa Kewley
Yiping Wang
Rachel Somerville
David Sanders
Ken Nagamine

Scientific Rationale:

In the next decade, the commissioning of Extremely Large Telescopes (20-40m class) will allow us to see the high redshift universe using new eyes of unprecedented power. By themselves or in combination with other facilities, these new eyes will have the potential to transform our understanding of the formation and early evolution of galaxies and black holes, first light and cosmic reionization, as well as the evolution of the intergalactic and circumgalactic media.

The Big Eyes conferences will bring together an international group of experts to review the current state of the art in the study of the high redshift universe and discuss how best to use giant telescopes to learn about it. Specifically, we aim to address the following questions:

• What potentially transformative observations will be enabled by giant telescopes? What capabilities are required?
• What are the key synergies between giant telescopes and other facilities? What are the areas and topics where a concerted effort will yield far superior results than the sum of all parts?
• What theoretical or observational work is needed in preparation for first light? What are the limitations in our understanding that need to be overcome?
• What calculations are required in order to make testable predictions and interpret the results of future astronomical observations?

It is extremely important to consider these questions now, while the plans for giant telescopes can still be influenced, and there is still sufficient time to carry out preparatory theoretical and observational work that will be needed to make the most of the large investments in these facilities. In order to facilitate attendance and reduce travel costs, we will hold three coordinated conferences, one each in America, Asia, and Europe.