Collaborative Research: Reverberation Mapping with Multi-Object Spectroscopy - from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping to the Black Hole Mapper

合作研究：使用多目标光谱进行混响映射 - 从斯隆数字巡天混响映射到黑洞映射器

• 批准号: 2310211
• 负责人: Catherine Grier
• 金额: $ 22.16万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-01-01 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2310211&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Reverberation; Mapping; Multi

This project will study the flicker of light from supermassive black holes that linger at the center of most of the big galaxies in the universe. These supermassive black holes weigh more than a million (up to about ten billion) times the mass of the Sun, and the glowing radiation from materials being “fed” into these black holes can outshine the star light from the entire galaxy, allowing these black holes to be observed in the very distant regions of the universe. In this project, astronomers will measure the variations of radiation from these supermassive black holes and how the materials immediately surrounding the black hole “echo” this variability. This measured echo allows astronomers to infer the mass of these monster black holes that are actively growing, and, in turn, help them understand how supermassive black holes form and evolve across cosmic history. In the area of Broader Impacts, the PIs plan to incorporate their research into strong educational and outreach programs at each of their institutions. In particular, these programs include a summer camp for high school girls, centered on data analysis, a black-hole workshop for middle schools, and a new summer bridge program for physics undergraduates from non-traditional backgrounds. These programs will encourage the participation of groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields.Supermassive black holes are ubiquitous at the center of massive galaxies in the universe. When they are actively accreting matter to build up their mass, they can produce immense radiation that often outshines the entire galaxy in which these massive black holes reside. This radiation from active supermassive black holes is not constant, but flickers at levels that are measurable with modern astronomical facilities. This project will measure the flicker from thousands of such active supermassive black holes over a five-year period, and the “echoes” from gas clouds immediately surrounding the black hole. These echo measurements will infer the spatial extent of these gas clouds in the vicinity of the black hole, and enable the measurement of the black hole mass. This project will use this technique to measure the masses of active supermassive black holes on an unprecedented industrial scale, most of which are billions of light years away, to understand the cosmic evolution of supermassive black holes and their relationships with their host galaxies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目将研究来自超级质量黑洞的光闪烁，这些黑洞徘徊在宇宙中大多数大星系的中心。这些超大质量的黑洞重量是太阳质量的一百万（大约100亿倍），而将材料“被喂入”到这些黑洞中的发光辐射可以超过整个银河系中的星光，从而可以在宇宙非常遥远的地区观察到这些黑洞。在这个项目中，天文学家将测量这些超质量黑洞的辐射变化，以及如何立即围绕黑洞“回声”这种变异性的材料。该测得的回声使天文学家可以推断出积极生长的这些怪物黑洞的质量，进而帮助他们了解超级质量的黑洞如何形成并在宇宙历史中发展。在更广泛的影响方面，PIS计划将其研究纳入每个机构的强大教育和外展计划。特别是，这些计划包括一个针对高中女生的夏令营，以数据分析为中心，中学的黑洞研讨会以及来自非传统背景的物理本科生的新夏季桥梁计划。这些计划将鼓励传统上代表性不足的群体的参与。在宇宙中，无处不在的黑洞无处不在。当他们积极接受物质以建立质量时，它们会产生巨大的辐射，这些辐射通常远远超过了这些巨大的黑洞所居住的整个星系。活跃的超级黑洞的辐射不是恒定的，而是在现代天文设施中可测量的水平上的闪烁。该项目将在五年内从数千个这样的活跃超级黑洞中衡量闪烁，并立即在黑洞周围发出的“回声”。这些回声测量结果将推断黑洞附近这些气体云的空间范围，并实现黑洞质量的测量。该项目将使用该技术在空前的工业规模上测量积极的超级质量黑洞的质量，其中大多数是数十亿光年的时间，以了解超级质量黑洞的宇宙演变及其与主持人星系的关系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过评估了构成的构成师的范围，并反映了构成的依据。