Dr Andre Fletcher (Korea Astronomy Observatory, Daejeon, S. Korea)

Black Hole Magnetospheres: Theories and Applications - Dr Andre Fletcher Colloquium

ATNF Marsfield Lecture Theatre

Abstract

There is now abundant evidence in favor of black holes (BHs) as the central
engines and prime movers in many different types of astrophysical systems:
AGNs, XRBs, microquasars, and possibly GRBs. The history and status of
analytic theories for BH plasma magnetospheres are reviewed, and new results
are presented for a nonstationary version of the 1982 Macdonald & Thorne
theory. A physical picture describing these new results will be presented,
and some of their possible applications to future work suggested.