ATNF Marsfield Lecture Theatre

Dr Andre Fletcher

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

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.