Physics Graduate Student Seminar with Martin Luepker on Black holes and you: Exploring AGN Dynamics Through Simulation

Why do some supermassive black holes emit powerful jets of plasma spanning thousands of light years? This talk delves into the dynamics of these active galactic nuclei (AGN) using numerical simulations. We'll start with a background on black hole structure and discovery. I'll introduce the General Relativistic Particle-in-Cell (GRPIC) code, specifically Aperture, which we use to explore AGN magnetosphere dynamics. GRPIC employs the 3+1 formalism, enabling numerical calculations of General Relativistic plasma. Much of my work has focused on benchmarking the Aperture code, utilizing techniques like particle path integration and the vacuum Wald solution for troubleshooting. I will end the talk with future plans and goals for simulations and analyses I hope to conduct soon.