Seminar Talk - Equilibrium Configurations of Fluids around Black Holes

Mathematical and Theoretical Physics Seminar (MTPS):

Equilibrium Configurations of Fluids around Black Holes

Eva Hackmann (Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) at Bremen University)

The most luminous energy sources in our universe are active galactic nuclei, which are driven by the accretion of matter onto a supermassive black hole of millions to billions of solar masses. The accreting matter is mainly orbiting the black hole in form of an accretion disk. As the gravitational field close to the black hole is very strong, accretion disks may serve as a system to test our current understanding of the theory of gravity.
We will first review some basic aspects of General Relativity, that is currently the best available theory of gravity, and then discuss the construction of fluid configurations in strong gravitational fields. In general, these configurations are described by a set of partial differential equations derived from energy conservation and Maxwell equations. The fluid configurations can serve as a simplified model to understand some of the basic processes in accretion disks, and to study the interplay of electromagnetic and gravitational forces in these processes.

Talks organized by Stefan Kettemann, Sören Petrat, and Peter Schupp

Usual time: Thursdays, 13:00-14:00

Location: for most of the semester the seminar will be online (access data will be sent around to the mailing list shortly before the talks; please write an email to Sören Petrat (s.petrat@jacobs-university.de) for the access data to specific talks or to be added to the mailing list).
All times are German time zone.