Compact Object Eruptions: How Black Holes and Neutron Stars Drive Explosions
This month, we'll continue our series about compact astrophysical objects, such as supermassive black holes and neutron stars, and their influences on their cosmic neighborhoods and across the Universe. On Sunday, our speaker will be Nathan Walker. Nathan is a Ph.D. candidate in Corvallis who is improving our understanding of the physics of these extreme objects. Please see his description of his talk below. It's especially fun to think about the physics of these objects while looking at the jets of M87 through a telescope. It would be great to have you join us!
Black holes and neutron stars play a crucial role in astrophysics. Active galactic nuclei, kilonovae, and gamma-ray bursts all require compact objects to produce the signals we observe. However, the mechanisms that allows for a black hole to launch outflows that can be detected on earth have not been easy to pin down. In this talk, I will give an overview of this topic, including how black holes can form in astrophysical systems, how we can model them, and how energy can be extracted from them. This will culminate in a description of the Blandford-Znajek Process, which is the likely mechanism responsible for launching relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts.
About Nathan Walker
Nathan Walker is a Ph.D. candidate studying high-energy astrophysics at Oregon State University. Prior to arriving here, he obtained a bachelor’s degree in physics at Minnesota State University Moorhead and a master’s degree in condensed matter physics at North Dakota State University. His current work involves running simulations to predict properties of gamma-ray burst emission.
