Colloquium: The role of magnetic fields in the origin of planetary systems
Tue 10 Nov 09 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Location: Hercus Theatre, Physics Building
Presented by Professor Mark Wardle, Department of Physics & Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney
All are welcome.
The discovery of planets orbiting sun-like stars and disks of gas encircling newly-formed stars has spurred a great deal of research activity trying to understand how systems of planets are born and evolve. Theoretical ideas that were originally developed from knowledge of a single planetary system -- our own -- are being reconsidered and modified in light of the variety of planetary systems that have been discovered over the last two decades.
I shall outline the progress towards understanding the complex interplay between gravity, gas, and solid particles that is at work in forming planetary systems. I will highlight the role of magnetic fields in controlling the gravitational collapse of the parent interstellar gas cloud, generating turbulence in the planet-forming disk, and in accelerating the powerful jets of material seen to emerge from young systems.