Black hole (BH) accretion flows and jets are qualitatively affected by the presence of ordered magnetic fields. We study fully three-dimensional global general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of radially extended and thick (height H to cylindrical radius R ratio of |H/R| {approx} 0.2-1) accretion flows around BHs with various dimensionless spins (a/M, with BH mass M) and with initially toroidally-dominated ({phi}-directed) and poloidally-dominated (R-z directed) magnetic fields. Firstly, for toroidal field models and BHs with high enough |a/M|, coherent large-scale (i.e. >> H) dipolar poloidal magnetic flux patches emerge, thread the BH, and generate transient relativistic jets. Secondly, for poloidal field models, poloidal magnetic flux readily accretes through the disk from large radii and builds-up to a natural saturation point near the BH. While models with |H/R| {approx} 1 and |a/M| {le} 0.5 do not launch jets due to quenching by mass infall, for sufficiently high |a/M| or low |H/R| the polar magnetic field compresses the inflow into a geometrically thin highly non-axisymmetric 'magnetically choked accretion flow' (MCAF) within which the standard linear magneto-rotational instability is suppressed. The condition of a highly-magnetized state over most of the horizon is optimal for the Blandford-Znajek mechanism that generates persistent relativistic jets with …

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Spectroscopy provides valuable information about the temperature and density of a compressed pellet in a plasma. Elliptically curved pentaerythritol (PET) crystals are used as components for spectrometers. Their elliptical geometry gives several advantages related to spectral energy range, source focus, and spectral image compression.[1] The crystal curvature increases the spectrometer throughput but at the cost of a loss in resolution. Four different crystals are used in a spectrometer at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) target chamber at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Figure 1 shows the arrangement of the elliptical PET crystals in the snout of a NIF target diagnostic shown in Figure 2. The spectrum from the crystals is captured by four image plates located behind the crystals. A typical mandrel, the darkened section, upon which the PET crystal is glued, is shown in Figure 3, which also shows the complete ellipse. There are four elliptical segment types, each having the same major axis but a different minor axis. The crystals are 150 mm long in the diffraction direction and 25.4 mm high. Two crystals of each type were calibrated. The throughput for each spectrometer is determined by the integrated reflectivity of the PET crystal.[1] The goal of this …