Physics Colloquium: Childhood Obesity Among Black Holes - on The Early Growth of Supermassive Black Holes

Abstract:

Supermassive black holes, with masses reaching ten billions solar masses, are found in the centers of most galaxies, and their growth and energy release mechanisms appear to be closely linked to the galaxies that host them, making them central to our understanding of galaxy evolution. However, the existence of these extreme systems less than a billion years after the Big Bang, with so little time to form and grow, poses major challenges to our understanding of their formation and early growth. I will present our continuous multi-wavelength observational effort to address these questions, by covering a broad range of time scales, physical scales, and matter phases of the first generation of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. 

Event Organizer: Dr. Eran Sela