Astrophysics Seminars

Mar
26
2009

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

Planetesimal Formation and Migration
Mordecai-Mark Mac Low
11:30am|Bloomberg Hall Astrophysics Library
In protostellar accretion disks, magnetorotational turbulence not only transports angular momentum, allowing accretion, but it also strongly influences planet formation. I will consider the influence of turbulence on the formation of planetesimals...
Mar
24
2009

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Fast 3D Reconnection of Weakly Stochastic Magnetic Field: Reconnection without Discrimination
Alex Lazarian
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall Astrophysics Library
With the progress of collisionless Hall-MHD reconnection models a really burning question arises. Is the reconnection rate fast in collisionless environments and slow when collisions are important? The positive answer to that question means that all...
Mar
10
2009

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Mach's Principle: Is Space-Time Created by its Energy Content?
Donald Lynden-Bell
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall Astrophysics Library
It is quite simple to build a Newtonian dynamics without Newton's absolute space which nevertheless gives exactly the same relative motions of the bodies as Newton's dynamics when the latter is applied in a non-rotating Universe like ours. The...