"Electromagnetic Signatures of Supermassive Black Hole Mergers" by Tamara Bogdanovic

Galaxy mergers are expected to be a natural channel for the formation of supermassive black hole binaries (SBHBs). Discovery of a statistically significant sample of these objects has important astrophysical implications for a range of questions that pertain to the formation and cosmological evolution of the supermassive black holes, the rate of their coalescences, and associated electromagnetic (EM) and gravitational wave signatures. All are intricately connected to the properties of the environment in which the SBHBs find themselves during the cosmic time. Most of the information about these systems so far had to be derived from theoretical studies and...

Galaxy mergers are expected to be a natural channel for the formation of supermassive black hole binaries (SBHBs). Discovery of a statistically significant sample of these objects has important astrophysical implications for a range of questions that pertain to the formation and cosmological evolution of the supermassive black holes, the rate of their coalescences, and associated electromagnetic (EM) and gravitational wave signatures. All are intricately connected to the properties of the environment in which the SBHBs find themselves during the cosmic time. Most of the information about these systems so far had to be derived from theoretical studies and computational simulations since finding them in EM searches proved to be a difficult task. I will discuss how current and future developments in theoretical understanding of observational signatures of SBHBs can help in future observational searches.

Event Details

Date/Time:

  • Date: 
    Wednesday, February 2, 2011 - 10:00am

Location:
Howey L5