Sergei Nayakshin

Prof Sergei Nayakshin

Professor in Theoretical Astrophysics

Room G24e, Physics main building

Tel: +44 (0)116 252 2454

Personal details

Originally from Russia, I obtained my undergraduate degree in Theoretical Nuclear Physics from the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute in 1993. I completed a PhD in Theoretical Astrophysics in 1998 at the University of Arizona, Tucson, specialising in accretion flows around compact objects. From 1999 to 2001, I was a National Research Council Fellow at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Centre at Maryland, USA. I then held a Postdoctoral Researcher position in the group of Professor Rashid Sunyaev at the Max Plank Institute for Astrophysics in Garching bei Munich, Germany. I joined the University of Leicester in 2005 as a Lecturer. I am now a full Professor.

Research

My research interests revolve around the physics of accreting objects (e.g. black holes, protostars and proto-planets). Over the years, I have focused specifically on

geometry and emission mechanism of the innermost regions of accreting black holes (e.g, Nayakshin, Kazanas & Kallman 2000)
gravitational instabilities and extreme star formation on sub-parsec scales around supermassive black holes, especially in Sgr A* (Nayakshin & Sunyaev 2006, Paumard et al 2006, Nayakshin et al 2007).
Supermassive black hole feeding and feedback in general and in our Galaxy (the Fermi Bubbles) in particular (Hobbs et al 2011, Zubovas, King & Nayakshin 2011).
Planet formation, specifically the role of planet migration -- shrinking of planet orbit due to planet-gas disc interactions. The process of planet migration revolutionised the classical Core Accretion model about 20 years ago (Lin et al 1996). In the last decade, numerical simulations showed that massive giant planets may "super-migrate" -- migrate to the location where hot Jupiters are observed (0.03 astronomical units, au) from as much as 100 au (Boley et al 2010). This implies that the second classical theory, Gravitational Instability, may also result in formation of hot Jupiters and all the other type of planets. I am pursuing development and critical testing of this new scenario for planet formation, which I recently reviewed here.

Past and current PhD students

Jorge Cuadra, Associate Professor, Santiago, Chile
Alex Hobbs, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Zurich
Kastytis Zubovas, faculty at Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Vilnius, Lithuania
Martin Bourne, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Kavli Institute for Astronomy, Cambridge University
Mark Fletcher, 3rd year PhD student
Jack Humphries, 1st year PhD student

Teaching

PA3250, Further Mathematical Physics
PA4622, Statistical Mechanics
Module coordinator for PA4440, Advanced Study Project
PA7081, Practical Programming
In the past -- PA113 (Electricity and Magnetism); Fractals and Chaos; Extreme Stars.

Office hours

9.00am to 5.00pm, Monday-Friday

Selected Publications

Papers (from 2010 to early 2014)

2014

Nayakshin S., Two-phase model for black hole feeding and feedback Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2014) 437:2404-2411 (Journal article)

2013

Bourne M. A., Nayakshin S., Inverse Compton X-ray signature of AGN feedback Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2013) 436:2346-2351 (Journal article)
Nayakshin S., Cha S.-H., Radiative feedback from protoplanets in self-gravitating protoplanetary discs Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2013) 435:2099-2108 (Journal article)
Neilsen J., et al., A Chandra/HETGS Census of X-Ray Variability from Sgr A* during 2012 The Astrophysical Journal (2013) 774:42- (Journal article)
Wang Q. D., et al., Dissecting X-ray–Emitting Gas Around the Center of Our Galaxy Science (2013) 341:981-983 (Journal article)
Zubovas K., Nayakshin S., King A., Wilkinson M., AGN outflows trigger starbursts in gas-rich galaxies Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2013) 433:3079-3090 (Journal article)
Nayakshin S., Wilkinson M. I., A link between feedback outflows and satellite galaxy suppression Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2013) 433:324-331 (Journal article)
Nayakshin S., Hydrogen-losing planets in transition discs around young protostars Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2013) 431:1432-1438 (Journal article)
Zubovas K., Nayakshin S., Sazonov S., Sunyaev R., Outflows of stars due to quasar feedback Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2013) 431:793-798 (Journal article)

2012

Nayakshin S., Zubovas K., Quasar feedback: accelerated star formation and chaotic accretion Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2012) 427:372-378 (Journal article)
Nayakshin S., Lodato G., Fu Ori outbursts and the planet-disc mass exchange Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2012) 426:70-90 (Journal article)
Bridges J. C., Changela H. G., Nayakshin S., Starkey N. A., Franchi I. A., Chondrule fragments from Comet Wild2: Evidence for high temperature processing in the outer Solar System Earth and Planetary Science Letters (2012) 341:186-194 (Journal article)
Zubovas K., Nayakshin S., Fermi bubbles in the Milky Way: the closest AGN feedback laboratory courtesy of Sgr A*? Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2012) 424:666-683 (Journal article)
Nayakshin S., Cha S.-H., An alternative origin for debris rings of planetesimals Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2012) 423:2104-2119 (Journal article)
Nayakshin S., Power C., King A. R., The Observed M-σ Relations Imply That Super-massive Black Holes Grow by Cold Chaotic Accretion The Astrophysical Journal (2012) 753:15- (Journal article)
Hobbs A., Power C., Nayakshin S., King A. R., Modelling supermassive black hole growth: towards an improved sub-grid prescription Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2012) 421:3443-3449 (Journal article)
Zubovas K., Nayakshin S., Markoff S., Sgr A* flares: tidal disruption of asteroids and planets? Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2012) 421:1315-1324 (Journal article)
Alexander R. D., Smedley S. L., Nayakshin S., King A. R., Galactic Centre star formation: the case of the missing gas disc Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2012) 419:1970-1976 (Journal article)
Nayakshin S., Sazonov S., Sunyaev R., Are supermassive black holes shrouded by 'super-Oort' clouds of comets and asteroids? Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2012) 419:1238-1247 (Journal article)

2011

Nayakshin S., Hot Super Earths: disrupted young jupiters? Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2011) 416:2974-2980 (Journal article)
Nayakshin S., Cha S.-H., Bridges J. C., The tidal downsizing hypothesis for planet formation and the composition of Solar system comets Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2011) 416:L50-L54 (Journal article)
Cha S.-H., Nayakshin S., A numerical simulation of a 'Super-Earth' core delivery from ˜100 to ˜8 au Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2011) 415:3319-3334 (Journal article)
Bloom J. S., et al., A Possible Relativistic Jetted Outburst from a Massive Black Hole Fed by a Tidally Disrupted Star Science (2011) 333:203- (Journal article)
Zubovas K., King A. R., Nayakshin S., The Milky Way's Fermi bubbles: echoes of the last quasar outburst? Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2011) 415:L21-L25 (Journal article)
Hobbs A., Nayakshin S., Power C., King A., Feeding supermassive black holes through supersonic turbulence and ballistic accretion Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2011) 413:2633-2650 (Journal article)
Power C., Zubovas K., Nayakshin S., King A. R., Self-regulated star formation and the black hole-galaxy bulge relation Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2011) 413:L110-L113 (Journal article)
Nayakshin S., Formation of terrestrial planet cores inside giant planet embryos Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2011) 413:1462-1478 (Journal article)
Power C., Nayakshin S., King A., The accretion disc particle method for simulations of black hole feeding and feedback Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2011) 412:269-276 (Journal article)
Nayakshin S., Rotation of the Solar system planets and the origin of the Moon in the context of the tidal downsizing hypothesis Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2011) 410:L1-L5 (Journal article)

2010

Nayakshin S., Grain sedimentation inside giant planet embryos Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2010) 408:2381-2396 (Journal article)
Nayakshin S., Formation of planets by tidal downsizing of giant planet embryos Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2010) 408:L36-L40 (Journal article)
Cha S.-H., Inutsuka S.-I., Nayakshin S., Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities with Godunov smoothed particle hydrodynamics Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2010) 403:1165-1174 (Journal article)
Nayakshin S., Power C., Simulations of momentum feedback by black hole winds Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2010) 402:789-802 (Journal article)
Bartko H., et al., An Extremely Top-Heavy Initial Mass Function in the Galactic Center Stellar Disks The Astrophysical Journal (2010) 708:834-840 (Journal article)

Media

Lectures at the BBC Stargazing Live event at the department; Lectures for the British amateur astronomer society and local historical societies, etc.