Guest lecture by prof. Davi Rodrigues at the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy
As part of the IDUB Visiting Professors programme, professor Davi Rodrigues from the Federal University of Espírito Santo in Vitória (Brazil) is coming to the University of Wrocław. During his stay, which will last from 25 September to 18 October 2025, prof. Rodrigues will give an open lecture entitled: Tracing the origins of a rare cosmic explosion: the kilonova candidate GRB 230307A. The meeting will take place on 3 October 2025 at 12:15 p.m. in room 422 of the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Wrocław. The event is organised by the Institute of Theoretical Physics.
About the lecture
In March 2023, a gamma-ray burst known as GRB 230307A was observed. Recent studies suggest that this event was not a typical burst, but a kilonova — the aftermath of merging neutron stars that create some of the heaviest elements in the Universe. In this talk, I will explore what makes this event unique: its likely host galaxy, and the surprising fact that the explosion occurred more than 40 kpc away from it. I will discuss in particular a detailed modeling of such large offset. Reconciling the observations with theoretical models and simulations requires some fine-tuning, raising questions about how such systems form and evolve. No gravitational waves were detected in this case, but studying GRB 230307A helps us better understand kilonovae as a population and prepares us for what we may learn with the next generation of gravitational-wave observatories.
Date of publication: 15.09.2025
Added by: M.K.
