The extreme physics of Eddington and Super Eddington accretion

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The extreme physics of Eddington and super Eddington accretion onto Black Holes
a comprehensive study of the "Eddington limit" across mass scales
23rd - 27th March, 2015 (First meeting)
29th February - 4th March, 2016 (Second Meeting)

PIs: D. Altamirano (Southampton, UK) & O. Blaes (UCSB, USA)

Abstract:

Understanding both the macro- and micro-physics of accretion onto black holes is one of the fundamental goals of Astrophysics, with relevance to measuring the effects of strong gravity and to understanding structure formation in the universe. We propose an International Team to study socalled Eddington-limited accretion, a unique and extreme regime where so much accretion power is liberated that the outward radiation pressure force is comparable to the inward force of gravity. The Team that we have assembled spans a wide range of expertise in order to critically review our understanding of the physics of Eddington-limited accretion onto black holes across a mass scale that spans 8 orders of magnitude, and the physical mechanisms that produce different types of outflows (like disk-winds and relativistic jets). The Team consists of 12 members coming from 4 different continents and 6 different countries, equally balanced between theoretical and observational members with the necessary complementary expertise. The primary goals of the Team will be address key questions related to (i) the physical conditions for Eddington and super-Eddington accretion, (ii) its observational manifestation across a wide range of black-hole mass, and (iii) the implications for accretion-disk geometry and outflows.

(Click here to read the whole proposal)

Meet The Team

	Dr. Diego Altamirano School of Physics & Astronomy University of Southampton	Prof. Ari Laor Technion- Israel Institute of Technology
	Prof. Tomaso Belloni INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera	Dr. Joey Neilsen Institute for Astrophysical Research, BU
	Prof. Omer Blaes Physics Department University of California	Prof. Hagai Netzer School of Physics and Astronomy Tel Aviv University
	Dr. Shane Davis CITA University of Toronto 60 St. George Street	Prof. Chris Reynolds Dept. of Astronomy Physical Sciences Complex Univ. of Maryland, College Park
	Prof. Chris Done Department of Physics Durham University	Dr. Aleksander Sadowski Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
	Prof. Chris Fragile College of Charleston Department of Physics & Astronomy	Dr. Roberto Soria Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy

Also with the participation of

	Dr. Jason Dexter MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics	Dr. Yan-Fei Jiang Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
	Dr. Erin Kara Dept. of Astronomy Physical Sciences Complex	Bhupendra Mishra Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center
	Jason Kaufman Physics Department University of California