EXTREME PHYSICS AROUND BLACK HOLES: UNDERSTANDING ACCRETION-DISK PHYSICS AT THE EDGE OF THE BLACK-HOLE EVENT HORIZON

我们银河系中的黑洞质量是太阳的5到15倍，是由大质量星星在超新星中爆炸形成的。黑洞是如此巨大，并被限制在空间中如此小的体积中，以至于连光都无法逃脱它的引力。幸运的是，有些黑洞是双星系统，其中的星星与我们的太阳相似，或者比太阳小。如果黑洞和伴星星星足够近，黑洞产生的强大引力会慢慢“吸走”伴星的气体，使其变形为梨形星星。被黑洞吸走的气体并不直接落入黑洞，而是像洗澡水一样围绕着黑洞旋转，形成一个气体盘，天文学家称之为吸积盘。吸积盘的基本物理规律是什么？产生超高速风和喷流所需的物理成分是什么？博士生将加入高能天体物理学小组，以解决吸积盘物理学的一些最基本的问题。为此，学生将使用来自美国宇航局最新X射线仪器“中子星星内部成分探测器”的高时间分辨率数据，结合来自最先进的光学，红外和无线电设施的数据。

Black holes in our Galaxy have masses between 5 and 15 times that of our Sun, and are formed when a massive star explodes in a Supernova. A black hole is so massive and confined in such a small volume in space, that not even light can escape its gravitational attraction. Fortunately, some black holes are in binary systems with a star similar to, or smaller than our Sun. If the black hole and the companion star are close enough, the strong gravity produced by the black hole will slowly "suck" gas from its companion, deforming it into a pear-shape star. The gas pulled off by the black hole does not fall directly into it, but swirls in like bath water around a plug-hole, forming a disk of gas which astronomers call accretion disk.What are the fundamental physics that rule accretion disks? What are the physical ingredients needed to produce ultra-fast winds and jets? The PhD student will join the group of high-energy astrophysics in order to tackle some of the most fundamental questions of accretion disk physics. To do so, the student will use high-time resolution data from NASA's newest X-ray instrument "Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer", in combination with data from state-of-the-art optical, infrared and Radio facilities.