Thermodynamics of Plasmas workshop

Session

Self-gravitating systems

Self-gravitating systems

7 Oct 2026, 10:00

Bernoulli center (EPFL)

Conveners

Self-gravitating systems: Self-gravitating systems

• Barry Ginat (University of Oxford)

13. A Geometric Theory of Magnetic Reconnection: Current Singularities and Magnetic Caustics

Amitava Bhattacharjee (Princeton University)

07/10/2026, 10:00

Main track

Oral presentation

We present a geometric theory of magnetic reconnection in which the global topology of a vacuum magnetic field is determined by boundary conditions. This program is the three-dimensional (3D) generalization of Syrovatskii's classical 2D work. Syrovatskii proved in 2D---under the assumption of a current-free outer field---that current singularities form at separatrices as a consequence of the...

9. Gravitational turbulence in stellar dynamics

Sofia Flores

07/10/2026, 10:40

Main track

Oral presentation

Vector Resonant Relaxation (VRR), the collective reorientation of stellar orbits around a black hole, provides an interesting framework for studying turbulence beyond the plasma context. In this talk, I will present numerical simulations of VRR in the strongly turbulent regime and characterize the statistical properties of its fluctuations. I will focus on the emergence of cascade phenomena...

16. Phase transition in a self-gravitating system: spontaneous orbital alignment of stars around a supermassive black hole

Jean-Baptiste FOUVRY (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris)

07/10/2026, 11:50

Main track

Oral presentation

Supermassive black holes dominate the gravitational potential in galactic nuclei. In these dense environments, stars follow nearly Keplerian orbits and see their orbital planes relax through the potential fluctuations generated by the stellar cluster itself. For typical stellar distributions, the most likely long-term outcome of this rearrangement is for the orbital planes of the most massive...