Hui Li:
3D MHD Modeling of Astrophysical Jets and Their Interaction with ICM

Level: Technical/Not for the Faint at Heart

UCI Department of Physics & Astronomy
Astrophysics and Plasma Seminar Collaboration

NOAO Radio Image of Jet at Giant Elliptical Galaxy Messier 87's Core

Speaker: Dr. Hui Li, Los Alamos National Laboratory


Title: 3D MHD Modeling of Astrophysical Jets and Their Interaction with ICM



Hosted By: Professor Zhihong Lin


Date: Tuesday, October 23, 2007, at 3:15 pm

Location: Natural Sciences 2 Building, Room 1201, UC Irvine Campus

Cost: FREE

We will present detailed 3D MHD modeling of the large scale
structures of the astrophysical jets, using a new model motivated by
the magnetic flux and energy injection by accretion disks around
black holes. In this model, the poloidal current flows along the
central axis and returns around the lobe, forming a closed circuit.
The central poloidal current produces a collimated magnetic helix in
the middle and the size of the lobe is determined by the balance
between the toroidal magnetic pressure produced by the central
poloidal current and the surrounding plasma pressure. The global
simulations of the formation, propagation, and termination of these
magnetic jets have been compared in detail with observations of
astrophysical jets and radio bubbles in galaxy cluster environments.
We find that there are distinct correlations between the size of the
bubbles and their distance to the central galaxy. This correlation
is naturally explained by this magnetically dominated model. Other
observations such as lobe morphologies, polarizations, and size
distributions will also be discussed in the context of this model.

Official Website: http://science.meetup.com/32/calendar/6595917/