[BANANA] ASC ITS Lecture 12/4/07

[Linda Becker]

ASC Institute for Terascale Simulation
Lecture Series 2007

"Why do I Compute?"

Dr. Robert Rosner
University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Building 123 Auditorium
2:00pm
(Common Use Facility. Foreign Nationals may attend.)


ABSTRACT:
The nondimensional numbers characterizing most 
astrophysical phenomena are sufficiently large 
that direct numerical simulations describing 
these phenomena are not just difficult – they are 
most likely even in principle 
impossible.  Despite this inconvenient fact, 
modern astrophysics clearly revels in modeling 
astrophysical phenomena – and the skeptical 
observer might well ask, ‘to what effect?’  I 
will discuss my answer to this question.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Robert Rosner, an internationally recognized 
astrophysicist, is President of UChicago Argonne, 
LLC, and has been Director of Argonne National Laboratory since April 2005.

Prior to his position as Director of Argonne, he 
served as Chief Scientist at the institution 
since 2002. He was chairman of astronomy and 
astrophysics at the University of Chicago from 
1991 to1997, and since 1998 has been the 
university's William E. Wrather Distinguished 
Service Professor. He was the Rothschild Visiting 
Professor at the Newton Institute for 
Mathematical Sciences at Cambridge University in 
2004. He was elected to the American Academy of 
Arts and Sciences in 2001, and is a Fellow of the 
American Physical Society. He holds a Ph.D. in 
physics from Harvard University (1976) and 
bachelor's in physics from Brandeis University (1969).

Most of Rosner's scientific work has been related 
to astrophysical fluid dynamics and plasma 
physics problems. Much of his current work 
involves developing new numerical simulation 
tools for modeling astrophysical phenomena, as 
well as validating these simulations using 
terrestrial laboratory experiments. He led the 
U.S. Department of Energy–funded Center for 
Astrophysical Thermonuclear Flashes at Chicago from 1997 until 2002.

Rosner's many scientific community services 
include current positions on the External 
Advisory Committee for the National Ignition 
Facility at Lawrence Livermore National 
Laboratory, the Steering Committee of the 
Interagency Task Force on High Energy Density 
Physics, the Scientific Advisory Committees for 
the Max Planck Institute for Solar System 
Research, Lindau, Germany, and the Astrophysical Institute Potsdam, Germany.

As head of Argonne National Laboratory, Dr. 
Rosner is an opinion leader on several subjects 
including energy research and development, 
accelerator science, computational science, and 
nanotechnology. His interviews have appeared on 
CBS, National Public Radio, E&E News, and he has 
been featured in Inside Energy and Energy Daily, 
and locally in Crain's Business Journal, the 
Chicago Tribune and the Sun-Times.

Technical Host: Xabier Garaizar (925) 423-1521
Administrative Contact: Linda Becker (925) 423-0421

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