Khagol_113_January 2018

| KHAG L | No. 113 - JANUARY 2018 | 05 International Workshop on QSO Absorption Lines The technique of using quasar absorption lines has emerged as a powerful tool to probe gas in galaxies and address several fundamental questions related to the evolution of galaxies over cosmic time. A three-day International Workshop on QSO Absorption Lines, to discuss the recent advancements in the field and various fundamental questions that can be answered through this technique, was held at IUCAA during December 12 -14, 2017. It was seventh in the series of such workshops, and the venues for the previous meetings were Chicago, Marseille, Paris, Pittsburgh, Colorado and Pune. The workshop returned to Pune after five years andwas attended by about 50 researchers. As Pune is near the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), which is very important to the detection of neutral hydrogen, the most abundant element in the interstellar medium, the workshop also had several presentations on using HI 21 cm line and the rotation measure technique to probe cold gas content and the strength of magnetic fields in galaxies. This workshop and the public lectures were jointly organized by IUCAA and the University of Chicago Center at Delhi. To engage with the wider audience, especially undergraduate and school students, two public lectures were organised, one by Raghunathan Srianand, on “Dark Probes of Observable Universe” at IUCAA, on December 12, 2017, and the other by Hsiao-Wen Chen, on “Exploring the Dark Universe” at the University of Chicago Center at Delhi, on December 16, 2017. Theworkshopwas coordinated byNeeraj Gupta, Raghunathan Srianand, Hsiao-WenChen andDonaldYork. our understanding of AGN physics and contribution of AstroSat to AGN science. The meeting discussed physics of accretion disk/corona, relativistic jets based on broadband spectroscopy, and multi-wavelength variability. Four special talks on the analysis of data obtained from AstroSat observationswere also arranged.Anumber of participants presented their results based onAstroSat observations. Theworkshop also discussedAstroSat observation strategies, and analysis tools relevant to theAstroSatmission. GulabC. Dewanganwas the coordinator.