Presentation

The XXI Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics (WS), organized by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC), is dedicated to the study of accretion processes in Astrophysics. The WS welcomes a maximum of 70 PhD students and young Post-Docs, and provides each year a unique opportunity for the participants to broaden their knowledge in a key field of Astronomy.

Scientific Rationale

It was over fifty years ago when the first significant paper on accretion flows was written. Since then the subject has grown incredibly, even today many X-ray satellites are engaged in research into signatures and tests of accretion processes in astrophysics. The reason for this is that accretion has shown to be of great importance in explaining the physics of many different kind of objects. This course aims to provide students with knowledge of the theory and observational tests of accretion processes in astrophysics to date. The important theoretical and physical processes associated with accretion will be described, and their application to close binary systems containing a compact object (white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole) and active galactic nuclei. The key objectives of the course are to provide students with knowledge and understanding of: the theory of accretion processes, discs in close binary systems, angular momentum transfer mechanisms that drive accretion disc evolution, theory of viscous disc evolution, accreting sources in other galaxies and AGNs, relativistic accretion flows around black holes, and the observational characteristics of accretion.

 

Organizing Committee:

  • J. Casares Velázquez
  • I. González Martínez-Pais
  • T. Shahbaz
  • F. Sánchez Martínez