Supervisor: Dr Timothy Walton
Despite being the largest objects in the observed Universe, there is no consensus on a complete dynamical model accounting for the origin of “astrophysical jets” detected emanating from a number of compact rotating sources. There has been growing evidence suggesting the genesis of these jets may be gravitational in origin. With this in mind, this project shall exploit a linearisation of Einstein’s field equations (together with a suitable source stress-energy-momentum tensor) about a flat background to construct spacetime metrics describing non-stationary, perturbed geometries. By analysing the exact geodesic equations of motion in these geometries, we may capture gravitational “tidal accelerations” on matter, as well as accelerations arising from the source model, to describe the gravitational origin and dynamics of a thick accretion disc including any developing jet-like formations.