BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Using our Galactic center supermassive black hole Sgr A* as a test
 bed for theories of accretion - Sera Markoff\, University of Amsterdam
DTSTART:20150521T153000Z
DTEND:20150521T163000Z
UID:TALK59235@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Simon Hodgkin
DESCRIPTION:Sgr A&lowast\; is the weakest accreting black hole we have eve
 r observed\, yet it is not a particularly unique object. We know that the 
 majority of galaxies harbor nuclear black holes more like Sgr A&lowast\; t
 han bright active galactic nuclei (AGN)\, thus our Galactic center represe
 nts a dominant stage in the life cycle of a spiral galaxy. I will discuss 
 our current understanding of accretion around Sgr A&lowast\;\, the only so
 urce so far where we can directly image near-event horizon scales\, and wh
 ere semi-analytical models are starting to agree with sophisticated genera
 l relativistic magnetohydrodynamical simulations. These results provide a 
 baseline for addressing several major questions relevant to the wider impa
 ct of black holes in the universe\, such as feedback in galaxies and clust
 ers\, or high energy particle acceleration. I will present some recent exa
 mples of how Sgr A&lowast\; is elucidating key physics relevant for black 
 holes at all mass scales.
LOCATION:Sackler Lecture Theatre\, IoA (tea at 4:00 pm)
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR