Search NASA⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Gammie, Charles F.

Publications and source records attributed to Gammie, Charles F..

Mid-Range Science Objectives for the Event Horizon Telescope

The first images of the black holes in Sagittarius A* and M87* have created a wide range of new scientific opportunities in gravitational physics, compact objects, and relativistic astrophysics. We discuss here the scientific opportunities that arise from the rich data sets that have already been obtained and the new data sets that will be obtained, exploiting a wide range of technical advances, including observational agility, receiver upgrades, and the addition of new stations. This document provides a 5-year framework for Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) science structured around four fundamental questions that are used to prioritize the analysis of existing data, guide technical upgrades, and determine the optimal use of future observational opportunities with EHT, ALMA, and multi-wavelength facilities. Through enhancements over this period, the EHT will create the first movie of M87* connecting black hole and jet physics, provide detailed studies of the structure and dynamics of Sgr A*, characterize the magnetospheres of both systems through polarimetric imaging, and explore the spacetime properties of black holes with greater precision and range.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Evolutionary Models of Cold, Magnetized, Interstellar Clouds

We modeled the long-term and small-scale evolution of molecular clouds using direct 2D and 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. This work followed up on previous research by our group under auspices of the ATP in which we studied the energetics of turbulent, magnetized clouds and their internal structure on intermediate scales. Our new work focused on both global and smallscale aspects of the evolution of turbulent, magnetized clouds, and in particular studied the response of turbulent proto-cloud material to passage through the Galactic spiral potential, and the dynamical collapse of turbulent, magnetized (supercritical) clouds into fragments to initiate the formation of a stellar cluster. Technical advances under this program include developing an adaptive-mesh MHD code as a successor to ZEUS (ATHENA) in order to follow cloud fragmentation, developing a shearing-sheet MHD code which includes self-gravity and externally-imposed gravity to follow the evolution of clouds in the Galactic potential, and developing radiative transfer models to evaluate the internal ionization of clumpy clouds exposed to external photoionizing UV and CR radiation. Gammie's work at UIUC focused on the radiative transfer aspects of this program.

Gammie, Charles F.↗