11:25 AM - 12:05 PM (40 min)
Matt Duez (Washington State University)
Abstract: Numerical relativists are well aware of the important role of magnetic fields in the transportation of angular momentum and generation of jets in the post-merger state of the compact binaries we like to simulate. The dynamics of magnetized conducting flows can be quite rich, and we are lucky to inherit the insights of decades of non-relativistic work studying the solar and terrestrial dynamos, magnetospheres, magnetic confinement fusion, etc. Relativity doesn’t complicate things too badly, and the mathematical machinery at our disposal is actually quite clarifying. I will give a quick exposition for those looking to jump into doing and interpreting MHD simulations of the big interconnected ideas: the frozen-in condition, force-free regions, helicity, and the mean-field treatment of dynamos.