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Thursday, January 07, 2016
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
East Bridge 201 (Richard P. Feynman Lecture Hall)

Physics Research Conference

Series: Physics Research Conference
Magnetic Toys in the Sky
Yuri Levin, Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow, Monash University,

In terrestrial conditions, magnetic fields usually play second fiddle to matter. However, in space magnetic fields can play a decisive role in dynamics of many astrophysical objects. In my talk I will describe several interesting magnetic structures that do not have counterparts in terrestrial conditions:

  1. Accretion discs around supermassive black holes that are in a state of magnetic levitation
  2. Magnetically driven hurricane-like deflagration fronts that are explosively consuming oceans on rapidly spinning neutron stars.
  3. Avalanches of magnetically-induced thermoplastic failures in magnetar crusts that my be connected to the observed activity of magnetars.
Event Sponsors:
For more information, please contact Sheri Stoll by phone at 395-6608 or by email at [email protected] or visit http://pmaweb.caltech.edu/~physcoll/PhysColl.html.