Zombie Degenerate Stars: A Walk Through the Stellar Cemetery
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Event details
Nuclear Masterclass Webinar Series
Stars are powered by nuclear fuel. Naturally, this raises the question of what happens once that fuel is exhausted. In astrophysics, we say the star has 'died,' but this death is rarely the end of the story. In this talk, we will journey into the realm of stellar corpses, uncover their origins through the lens of quantum mechanics, and explore the astronomical observations that confirm the existence of these truly bizarre stellar zombies.
This webinar is part of the Nuclear Physics Masterclasses. GCSE (or equivalent) students can register to attend the full Pre-16 Nuclear Masterclass and A-level students (or equivalent) can register to attend the full Post-16 Nuclear Masterclass. The webinars are open to all.
About the speaker
Dr Arnau Rios is a theoretical nuclear physicist who studies quantum many-body systems with machine learning and quantum computing tools. He is an Associate Professor at the Department of Quantum Physics and Astrophysics and the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) since 2021. He began his research career with a PhD in 2007, followed by a postdoctoral stay at Michigan State University (USA, 2007-2009). He was at the University of Surrey from 2009 to 2021, as a Marie Curie and STFC Advanced Fellow, and as (Senior) Lecturer later. Dr Rios has published 53 refereed papers, supervised 5 PhD students, and taught at all levels of bachelor's and master's degrees. He is the current president of the Nuclear Physics Group at the Spanish Royal Physics Society.