Why Do Disks Form Jets?

Abstract

It is argued that jet modelers have given insufficient study to the natural magneto-static configurations of field wound up in the presence of a confining general pressure. Such fields form towers whose height grows with each twist at a velocity comparable to the circular velocity of the accretion disk that turns them. A discussion of the generation of such towers is preceded by a brief history of the idea that quasars, active galaxies, and galactic nuclei contain giant black holes with accretion disks.