Colloquium – Roger Blandford

Roger Blandford, KIPAC, Stanford

Jets, Disks and Winds from Spinning Black Holes: Nature or Nurture?

An alternative interpretation of discussion of slow accretion onto massive black holes in galactic nuclei is discussed. It is proposed that the disk is primarily powered by the black hole rotation, not the release of gravitational energy from the infalling gas. Consequently, the observed millimetre emission is produced by an “ergomagnetosphere” that connects the black hole horizon to an “ejection disk” from which most of the gas supplied at a remote “magnetopause” is lost through a magnetocentrifugal wind. It is argued that the boundary conditions at high latitude on the magnetopause play a crucial role in the collimation of the relativistic jets. The increasingly important role of stars in shaping the gas flow around massive black holes will be discussed.

Sept 28, 2023 @ 4:00pm Central in Stevenson 4327; reception beforehand at 3:30pm in Stevenson 6333

Host: A. Lupsasca; co-hosted by VandyGRAF

To join via Zoom, please contact Reina Beach (reina.beach@vanderbilt.edu) to request the Zoom link.