Paths forward in understanding kilonovae: HEAVYMETAL VI

Name: Paths forward in understanding kilonovae: HEAVYMETAL VI
Start: 2026-06-07T09:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-06-12T12:35:00+01:00
Location: McDonald Forest Hills

7 Jun 2026, 09:00 → 12 Jun 2026, 12:35 Europe/Dublin

McDonald Forest Hills

Kinlochard, Aberfoyle, Stirling FK8 3TL, UK

Description

4 Star Hotel & Resort in Aberfoyle | Macdonald Forest Hills

This is the sixth meeting of the HEAVYMETAL consortium and an open meeting for external participants. HEAVYMETAL is an ERC-funded synergy between 4 institutes that study "How neutron star mergers make heavy elements".

In our meetings, we bring together experts ranging from the modeling and observations of neutron star mergers, gamma-ray bursts, stellar abundances, radiative transfer, and atomic structure (theory & experiments) to address problems in this multi-disciplinary field.

The meeting will be held in Kinlochard, Aberfoyle, Scotland.

Confirmed Invited Speakers

Camilla Hansen

Andreas Koch-Hansen

Alexander Ji

Jillian Rastinejad

Masaomi Tanaka

Kenta Hotokezaka

Amy Gall

John Sheil

Christian Clear

Sanjana Curtis

Meng-Ru Wu

Stephane Goriely

Anton Wallner

Quentin Pognan

Georgios Lioutas

Chris Fontes

Stuart Loch

Steven Bromley

Scientific Organizing Committee

Stuart Sim, Aayush Arya, Fiona McNeill, Éanna Donohoe, Chun-Ming Yip

Sunday 7 June
- Welcome Buffet
Monday 8 June
- Break: Breakfast
- Talks: Nucleosynthesis and r-process
  
  Convener: Leo Mulholland (QUB)
  - 1
    
    Welcome and opening remarks
    
    Speaker: Stuart Sim (Queen's University Belfast)
  - 2
    
    Neutrinos and nucleosynthesis in binary neutron star mergers
    
    Speaker: Meng-Ru Wu (Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica)
    
    260608_HeavyMetal_MRW.pdf
  - 3
    
    Progress in the modelling of nuclear inputs for r-process simulations
    
    Speaker: Stephane Goriely (ULB)
    
    Goriely.pdf
- Break: Coffee
- Talks: R-process and merger simulations
  
  Convener: Aayush Arya (Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen)
  - 4
    
    End-to-end modelling of kilonovae
    
    Speaker: Sanjana Curtis (Oregon State University)
    
    HEAVYMETAL_Curtis.pdf
  - 5
    
    Systematic Analysis of Dynamical Ejecta Properties and Nucleosynthesis in Binary Neutron Star Mergers
    
    Speaker: Vimal Vijayan (GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung)
  - 6
    
    A Data-Driven Model for r-Process Production Patterns
    
    Speaker: Zewei Xiong (GSI)
- Break: Lunch
- Talks: Merger Simulations
  
  Convener: Sanjana Curtis (Oregon State University)
  - 7
    
    Low-T/|W| instabilities in differentially rotating neutron stars
    
    Speaker: Georgios Lioutas (Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies)
  - 8
    
    End-to-end neutron-star merger models
    
    Speaker: Oliver Just (GSI Darmstadt)
    
    Oliver_Just_slides.pdf
  - 9
    
    Fluctuations in binary neutron star merger simulations
    
    Speaker: Christian Schwebler (GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt, Germany)
- 15:30
  
  Coffee
- Chaired Discussion: Nucleosynthesis and Merger Simulations
  
  Conveners: Georgios Lioutas (Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies), Oliver Just (GSI Darmstadt)
- Break: Dinner
Tuesday 9 June
- Break: Breakfast
- Talks: Stellar abundances
  
  Convener: Dr Darach Watson (Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen)
  - 10
    
    Challenges in observational studies of heavy elements
    
    Speaker: Camilla Juul Hansen (Frankfurt)
    
    Scotland_talk_CJHansen.pdf
  - 11
    
    Lanthanide and actinide variation in metal-poor stars
    
    Speaker: Alexander Ji (University of Chicago / KICP)
    
    Alexander_Ji_HEAVYMETAL_2026.pdf
- 10:10
  
  Coffee
- Talks: Kilonovae and Heavy Elements: I
  
  Convener: Quentin Pognan (Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics)
  - 12
    
    Identification and Abundance Estimate of Heavy Elements in Kilonova Spectra
    
    Speaker: Masaomi Tanaka (Tohoku University)
    
    Tanaka_20260609.pdf
  - 13
    
    Late-time kilonova emission and r-process dust formation
    
    Speaker: Kenta Hotokezaka (University of Tokyo)
    
    r-processdust_KH.pdf
  - 14
    
    Nebular Emission Lines of Lanthanides and Actinides
    
    Speaker: Andreas Flörs (GSI)
- Break: Lunch
- Talks: Kilonovae and Heavy Elements: II
  
  Convener: Jillian Rastinejad (NASA Einstein Fellow, University of Maryland)
  - 15
    
    Observational signatures of kilonovae arising from neutron star mergers with a magnetar remnant
    
    Speaker: Quentin Pognan (Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics)
  - 16
    
    Direct detection of interstellar radionuclides – messengers of heavy element nucleosynthesis and recent nearby cosmic explosions
    
    Speaker: Anton Wallner (Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf)
  - 17
    
    Strontium vs. helium: Atomic data and microphysics decode the 1μm feature in the kilonova AT2017gfo
    
    Speaker: Aayush Arya (Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen)
- 15:30
  
  Coffee
- Chaired Discussion: Observations and Spectral Modelling
  
  Conveners: Albert Sneppen, Camilla Juul Hansen (Frankfurt)
- Break: Dinner
Wednesday 10 June
- Break: Breakfast
- Talks: Kilonova NLTE modelling
  
  Convener: Andreas Flörs (GSI)
  - 18
    
    NLTE Modeling of Kilonovae
    
    Speaker: Christopher Fontes (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
  - 19
    
    Nebular emission lines in kilonovae spectra - insights from atomic calculations
    
    Speaker: Leo Mulholland (QUB)
    
    Leo_Mulholland.pdf
  - 20
    
    The Effect of Ionisation in Collisional Radiative Modelling
    
    Speaker: Michael McCann (Queen's University Belfast, UK)
- 10:15
  
  Coffee
- Talks: Atomic Structure and Collision Rate Calculations
  
  Convener: Christopher Fontes (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
  - 21
    
    Thermal and Non-Thermal Ionization Properties of Te and Sr Ions
    
    Speaker: Steven Bromley (Auburn University)
  - 22
    
    Dirac R-matrix electron impact excitation of Mo I-IV
    
    Speaker: John Henry (Queen's University Belfast, UK)
  - 23
    
    Theoretical and experimental study of 4f-5d Fano resonances in EUV photoabsorption of gold
    
    Speaker: David McKeagney (University College Dublin)
- Break: Lunch To Go
- 13:15
  
  Excursions
- Break: Dinner Buffet
Thursday 11 June
- Break: Breakfast
- Talks: Atomic Spectroscopy Experiments
  
  Convener: Emma Sokell (University College Dublin)
  - 24
    
    Spectroscopy of Highly Charged Heavy Ions with an Electron Beam Ion Trap
    
    Speaker: Amy Gall (Auburn University)
    
    HEAVYMETAL_26_Gall.pdf
  - 25
    
    An overview of dielectronic recombination and a summary of Auburn University experimental facilities
    
    Speaker: Stuart Loch (Auburn University)
  - 26
    
    Dual-Comb Spectroscopy of Heavy Metals
    
    Speaker: Hope Dannar (University of Arizona)
    
    2026_6_DCS of Heavy Metals_Dannar.pdf
- 10:30
  
  Coffee
- Talks: Atomic Spectroscopy Experiments
  
  Convener: David McKeagney (University College Dublin)
  - 27
    
    Unlocking the Lanthanides: High‑Accuracy Atomic Data at Imperial
    
    Speaker: Christian Clear (Imperial College London)
  - 28
    
    Jets in the lab: radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of laboratory-scaled plasma flows
    
    Speaker: Ylvie Gerritsma (ARCNL / VU Amsterdam)
  - 29
    
    Punch Out Plasmas
    
    Speaker: Éanna Donohoe (University College Dublin)
- Break: Lunch
- Talks: Atomic Spectroscopy Experiments
  
  Convener: Padraig Dunne (University College Dublin)
  - 30
    
    Many-body quantum chaos & lanthanide ions - what does it mean for NSM ejecta?
    
    Speaker: John Sheil (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
  - 31
    
    Challenges in MIR Spectroscopy of Laser-Produced Plasmas: Insights from Water Absorption Measurements
    
    Speaker: Chandan Bagadia (University College Dublin)
  - 32
    
    Progress in Vis-NIR Spectroscopy
    
    Speaker: Eoin Fagan (University College Dublin)
- Coffee Break
- Chaired Discussion: Laboratory Astrophysics and Atomic Spectroscopy
  
  Conveners: Kirsten Dowd (UCD), Stuart Loch (Auburn University)
- 19:00
  
  Conference Dinner
  
  Scottish Themed
Friday 12 June
- Break: Breakfast
- 08:30
  
  Hotel Room Checkout
  
  Participants should check out of their room before starting the sessions.
- Talks: Observations of Heavy Elements in the Cosmos
  
  Convener: Albert Sneppen
  - 33
    
    Observing the R-process With Gamma-ray Bursts
    
    Speaker: Jillian Rastinejad (NASA Einstein Fellow, University of Maryland)
  - 34
    
    Element observations in a moving Universe: from the Milky Way to DLAs
    
    Speaker: Andreas Koch-Hansen (Zentrum für Astronomie Heidelberg, Heidelberg University)
    
    KochHansen.pdf
- 10:10
  
  Coffee
- Talks: Radiative Transfer
  
  Convener: Catherine Ramsbottom (University College Dublin)
  - 35
    
    Multi-dimensional kilonova radiative transfer with ARTIS
    
    Speaker: Stuart Sim (Queen's University Belfast)
  - 36
    
    Composite Function-Bayesian Active Posterior Estimation (CF-BAPE): How to fit with few samples
    
    Speaker: Rasmus Damgaard (Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen)
- Talks: Summary & Concluding Remarks
  
  Conveners: Aayush Arya (Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen), Andreas Bauswein (GSI)
  - 37
    
    Conference Summary & Concluding Remarks
    
    Speakers: Aayush Arya (Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen), Andreas Bauswein (GSI)