In his paper, Moll presents a numerical study of magnetic cores rotating inside a non-magnetic stellar envelope, investigating under what conditions a magnetically powered jet is formed that can break through the envelope. As the processes involved are very complex and vary over a wide range of scales, Moll had to invent a new method for his 3-dimensional, magneto-hydrodynamic simulations: In a numerical grid, with which the flow can be followed over a factor of 1000 in distance, it is possible to cover the full development of the unsteady flow, including the strong magnetically driven instabilities evolving inside it. The laudation particularly recognised Moll’s inventiveness in problem definition, and in developing methods for visualization and physical interpretation of the complex 3-dimensional results.

While Rudolph Kippenhahn remembered that the question about quasars with a jet perpendicular to the disk started when he was ”still in business“ — he was MPA director from 1975 to 1991 — the first explanations did not include anything about magnetic fields, and he congratulated Moll for his study leading to ”one of the first reasonable explanations“. However, Kippenhahn also said that because of recent events, he looked more carefully at this paper. Allowing for the fact that it is difficult in astronomy to copy from a newspaper and get a PhD, he told Moll that even if it turned out that he had copied from the Süddeutsche Zeitung, he could keep his prize, as this was not part of the formal requirements.

Original publication:
”Large jets from small-scale magnetic fields“, R. Moll, A&A 512, A5 (2010)
http://www.aanda.org/index.php?option=com_article&access=standard&Itemid=129&url=/articles/aa/abs/2010/04/aa13176-09/aa13176-09.html

Images from the award ceremony (internal)