The Be Star Newsletter, Volume 37 - September 2003

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THE NATURE AND EVOLUTION OF DISKS AROUND HOT STARS Richard Ignace Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Geology East Tennessee State University Johnson City, TN 37614 email:  ignace@mail.etsu.edu Received: September 9, 2003 LOCATION AND DATE A workshop on disks around hot stars is being planned for 2004 July 7-9, to be hosted by East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee (www.etsu.edu), with meetings to be held at the Carnegie Hotel (www.CarnegieHotel.com). MOTIVATION and GOALS Disks are an important, sometimes even dominant, feature of many astrophysical sources, including massive hot stars. Studies of these disks are often constrained by narrow categories of objects, while the key physical principles for understanding the disks in different systems can be quite similar. This workshop is intended to focus discussion on the major outstanding questions surrounding the structure, formation, and evolution of disks around hot stars, and to foster communication between different areas of disk research. With a balanced menu of observational and theoretical presentations, review talks will highlight recent results and key physical principles relating to these topics. In keeping with the workshop theme, substantial time will be allocated for discussion, both in a moderated large group setting and in the casual formation of smaller circles of participants. The intended outcome of this event is the synthesis of the latest observational data and theoretical tools to stimulate fresh approaches for this interesting and growing topic of relevance for massive stars. SPEAKERS Jon Bjorkman, University of Toledo Modelling the Structure of Hot Star Disks (confirmed) Karen Bjorkman, University of Toledo The Observed Properties of Hot Star Disks (confirmed) Joseph Cassinelli, University of Wisconsin The Effects of Magnetic Fields in Winds and Disks (confirmed) Janet Drew, Imperial College Winds from Hot Star Disks (tbc) Carol Grady, NASA Goddard Evidence of Disks in Herbig Stars (confirmed) Lee Hartmann, Harvard-Smithsonian CfA The Physics of Circumstellar Disks (tbc) Huib Henrichs, University of Amsterdam Magnetism Observed in Massive Stars (tbc) Michael Jura, University of California-Los Angeles Dusty Disks Across the HR Diagram (confirmed) Keith MacGregor, High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research Generating Magnetic Fields in Early-Type Stars (confirmed) Georges Meynet, Geneva Observatory The Influence of Rotation for Massive Star Evolution: Principles and Uncertainties (confirmed) Stan Owocki, Bartol Institute, University of Delaware Dynamical Processes that Drive the Evolution of Hot Star Disks (tbc) Thomas Rivinius, Landessternwarte Konigstuhl Links Between Hot Stars and Their Disks (confirmed) PRE-REGISTRATION If you are interested in attending, please help us estimate the number of potential attendees by sending an e-mail to: hotstars@mail.etsu.edu Please use the following format: Name: Institution: Email: Level of Interest: (high) (med) (low) 1 2 3 where high = Definitely plan to attend, med = Likely to attend, but not definite yet, and low = Interested in further information, but not sure yet whether will attend Note that all contributions will be in poster format, to maximize discussion opportunities. Only the review talks will be scheduled for oral presentation; much of the workshop will be in the open discussion format as discussed below. FORMAT We have developed a novel format for the meeting. For each day there will be four invited talks in the morning, with a discussion session in the early afternoon. A "Focus" session will be held later in the afternoon, for which attendence will be optional. Our goal is twofold: first, to provide review talks to summarize the current understanding of hot star disks and set the stage for discussion (the three sessions being "The Properties of Hot Star Disks", "The Star-Disk Connection", and "Magnetic Fields in Massive Stars"). A lunch break will provide a period of time for informal discussion, after which participants will gather for a moderated discussion led by a panel. The Focus sessions are more narrowly defined and are intended to be somewhat tutorial in nature, on the topics of Diagnostic Methods (headed by David Cohen and Margaret Hanson), Modelling Tools (headed by Ken Gayley and John Porter), and Optical/IR Interferometry (headed by Doug Gies and Philippe Stee). The workshop format is thus built around a relatively small number of review talks, with plenty of time for interaction, in hopes of achieving a kind of "summer school" flavor. We would like participants to come away with a deeper understanding of the key issues and with new ideas for attacking the outstanding questions surrounding hot star disks. We hope to stimulate new collaborations and working partnerships for further progress in this area. QUESTIONS For questions or more information, contact hotstars@mail.etsu.edu.