On the Origin, Nature, and Mixing of Multiphase Gas in Astrophysics
Coordinators: Chad Bustard, Nir Mandelker, Christine Simpson, and Frank van den Bosch
Recent advances in observations, computer simulations, and analytical insights have led to an explosion of work on the microphysics of fluid dynamics and instabilities in different astrophysical environments. These range from studies of the intergalactic and circumgalactic media around galaxies, to winds from AGB stars and supernova remnants interacting with the interstellar medium, to galactic nuclei around black holes. Across these many orders of magnitude in scale, a common challenge is understanding the origin, nature, and mixing of multiphase gas. In addition to the interaction between thermal components (e.g. cold+dense gas and hot+diffuse gas), relativistic cosmic rays and radiation can further shape this phase balance, and recent advances in cosmic ray and radiation hydrodynamics are providing novel insights into the nature of astrophysical plasmas.
This conference will bring together experts in the field of multiphase fluid dynamics and instabilities across astrophysical scales. We will focus on physical processes and their numerical implementation relevant to modeling multiphase gas in a variety of astrophysical situations. Our goal is to foster discussion and collaboration between experts focusing on these different regimes, which are all too often compartmentalized.