You are cordially invited to a Colloquium by Prof Johan van der Walt.
Title: Astronomical Masers.
Abstract:
Astronomical maser emission is a remarkable phenomenon that occurs in a wide range of astrophysical environments, from starburst galaxies and black hole accretion disks to star-forming regions and even comets. I will begin with an accessible introduction to the basic physics of masers before turning to a much rarer case: formaldehyde masers. In the main part of the talk, I will present the rate-equation framework used to model the excitation of these masers and show some basic results obtained from solving for the molecular level populations. I will outline the proposed pumping mechanism and address some questions surrounding the nature and behaviour of formaldehyde masers.
For more information, kindly contact Fanie van den Heever.