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SUMMARY:Celebrating 40 Years of Damped Lya Systems
DTSTART:20260316T000000Z
DTEND:20260319T080000Z
DTSTAMP:20260415T101400Z
UID:indico-event-471@indico.ipmu.jp
DESCRIPTION:\nMeeting Date\nMarch 16-19\, 2026\nConference Schedule\nVenue
 \nKavli IPMU\, Kashiwa\, Chiba\, Japan\nImportant Dates (approximate)\nAbs
 tract Submission Opens: 2025 Oct 14 \nAbstract Submission Closes:  2025
  Dec 7 \nNotification of Contributed Talks: 2026 Jan 9\nOverview\nHistor
 ical Context and Scientific Vision\nNearly four decades have passed since 
 Arthur Wolfe and colleagues established the systematic study of Damped Lym
 an Alpha (DLA) systems\, seeking to unveil the neutral gas reservoirs that
  shape the galaxies we observe today. What began as a search for high-reds
 hift galactic disks has blossomed into a rich field connecting the cosmic 
 baryon cycle across multiple scales—from the densest neutral hydrogen co
 ncentrations to the diffuse cosmic web\, and from the low-redshift circumg
 alactic medium to the epoch of reionization. We hope to honor this legacy 
 while looking forward to an era of exciting new observational capabilities
  and theoretical advances.\nConference Objectives\nThis meeting will bring
  together a diverse community of observers\, theorists\, and instrumentali
 sts to synthesize our evolving understanding of gas (with emphasis on HI) 
 across cosmic history. We aim to bridge traditional absorption-line techni
 ques with emerging methodologies—from HI tomography and extended-source 
 spectroscopy to JWST proximate DLA detections and next-generation radio fa
 cilities. By connecting DLA science to broader questions of galaxy fueling
 \, the circumgalactic medium\, and the cosmic web\, we seek to establish a
  holistic view of how baryons cycle through galaxies and their environment
 s.\nKey Science Themes\nThe meeting will explore the nature of HI absorber
 s through complementary lenses: their role as star formation reservoirs\, 
 their connection to host galaxies spanning dwarf systems to massive disks\
 , and their three-dimensional structure revealed through multiple sightlin
 es and spatially extended sources. We will examine HI gas both in absorpti
 on (e.g. DLAs\, Lyman Limit Systems\, and the Lyman-α forest) and in emis
 sion (Lyman-α halos\, cosmic web filaments)\, while confronting observati
 ons with predictions from state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulations. Spe
 cial emphasis will be placed on DLAs at the highest redshifts where they p
 robe reionization physics\, the metal-enrichment history traced through de
 tailed abundance patterns\, and the transformative potential of upcoming f
 acilities including the Square Kilometer Array. By fostering dialogue acro
 ss traditional disciplinary boundaries—from pencil-beam quasar spectrosc
 opy to wide-field emission mapping—we aim to advance our understanding o
 f how gas accretion\, internal processing\, and feedback shape galaxy evol
 ution while accounting for the full baryon census across cosmic time.\nInv
 ited Speakers\n\nClaude-André Faucher-Giguère (Confirmed)\nMichele Fumag
 alli (Confirmed)\nJohan Fynbo (Confirmed)\nNissim Kanekar (Confirmed)\nHar
 uka Kusakabe (Confirmed)\nCeline Peroux (Confirmed)\nMax Pettini (Confirme
 d)\nJacqueline Van Gorkom (Confirmed)\n\nScientific Organizing Committee (
 SOC)\nJ. Chris Howk\, Akio Inoue\, K.G. Lee\, Kana Morokuma\, Kentaro 
 NagamineJ. Xavier Prochaska\, Kate Rubin\, and Jessica Werk   [All plan 
 to attend]\nLocal Organizing Committee (LOC)\nK.G. Lee\, J. Xavier Prochas
 ka\, Rahul Ramesh\n\nhttps://indico.ipmu.jp/event/471/
URL:https://indico.ipmu.jp/event/471/
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