Jet Formation in MHD Simulations

Abstract

In this talk I review the current status of jet formation in direct numerical simulations of black-hole accretion disks and magnetospheres. I address the following critical questions: What constitutes the jet? What is the launching mechanism? Where is the launching point of the jet? What is the Lorentz factor? What is the opening angle? How is the jet collimated? Just as importantly, I also discuss how dependent the answers to the above questions are on factors such as the initial conditions of the simulation. I end by discussing possible future directions for this research.