Our aim is to bring together those working on common problems in
the field
of extragalactic, Galactic, and gamma-ray burst jets, with an emphasis
on theoretical facets of the subject, and forge closer ties between
those
in the various communities (astronomy, physics, laboratory
astrophysics,
numerical simulation, etc.) with an interest in this field of study.
We expect the meeting to have a distinctly pedagogical flavor,
with oral
sessions focused on a number of comprehensive and substantial reviews,
which will form the basis of the published proceedings, the majority of
attendees contributing posters. Our financial situation will not be
clear
for some months, but we hope to have funds to support the attendance of
(some) graduate students.
The first morning will comprise three overview talks (45m),
providing an observational context, highlighting theoretical successes
and
problems, and carefully planned to initiate a cross-discipline dialog:
- extragalactic jets for the microquasar and GRB
community
- microquasars for the AGN and GRB community
- GRBs for the AGN and microquasar community.
Five sessions will then be devoted to each of the five broad
themes
- extragalactic jets (key physics -- as understood, and
issues)
- physical processes (field evolution, particle etc.; as
studied by simulation and laboratory astrophysics)
- numerical simulation methods (strengths and weaknesses
of existing schemes, and prospects for development).
The proceedings will be distinctly pedagogical, and will comprise
eight twenty-plus page reviews reflecting the material presented during
the overview talks itemized above, further developed by the authors to
incorporate material from contributed papers and discussions as they
see fit. We will ask each attendee to provide a copy of their talk or
poster (by the day of their talk at the latest) which will be made
accessible from the conference web page. We will strive to make this
record as archival as is feasible, and the formally published reviews
will be able to make liberal reference to this body of work. Major
advantages of this approach are that: each attendee will have a full
account of their work made available (not the almost valueless, one or
two page summary that is usual), with no additional effort needed to
prepare a document by some post-meeting deadline; the proceedings
authors will have access to the entire body of presented material; and,
as the conference facility is WiFi enabled, attendees will be able to
use their laptops during sessions for immediate access to previous
talks/posters of relevance.