Descrizione del progetto
Risolvere i misteri delle binarie di buchi neri supermassicci
Nell’immensa distesa del cosmo quasi tutte le galassie ospitano al loro centro un buco nero supermassiccio, ciascuno dei quali è milioni o miliardi di volte più grande del nostro Sole. Quando le galassie si scontrano e si fondono tra loro, questi colossi si fondono in buchi neri binari supermassicci che fanno vibrare il gas e le stelle della galassia. Il valzer cosmico di queste binarie è ritenuto il principale responsabile del fondo di onde gravitazionali recentemente rilevato; tuttavia, il loro destino finale è tuttora un mistero nel campo dell’astrofisica. Con il sostegno del programma di azioni Marie Skłodowska-Curie, il progetto SwimmingGiants esplorerà l’evoluzione e le firme osservazionali di questi leviatani. Grazie all’esperienza nell’idrodinamica numerica e nei fenomeni delle onde gravitazionali, il progetto approfondirà la nostra comprensione dell’evoluzione galattica e anticiperà imminenti scoperte in ambito di astrofisica multi-messaggero.
Obiettivo
Nearly all galaxies in the universe harbor a super-massive black hole (SMBH)---with mass a million to a billion times that of our sun---in their core. When these galaxies merge, their super-massive black holes are brought together to form a super-massive black hole binary that interacts with the newly forming galaxy's stars and gas. A cosmic population of these super-massive binaries is hypothesized as the source for the gravitational wave background (GWB) detected for the first time this June. The full evolution and ultimate fate of these binaries, however, remains one of the most enduring mysteries in astrophysics. A key element to revealing the destinies of these binaries and unlocking their multi-messenger observational prospects is to understand their late-stage interactions with ambient gas in the nascent galactic nucleus. In the proposed research program, I will deploy state-of-the-art hydrodynamics simulations of the mutual interaction between compact super-massive binaries and their gaseous environments to develop cutting-edge models of gas-driven binary evolution and its associated observational signatures. These models will be essential to current and forthcoming electromagnetic and gravitational wave observations as the GWB detection (and upcoming LISA mission) open the floodgates on the next-generation of multi-messenger astrophysics and cosmology with super-massive binaries; just as the first LIGO detection did for their stellar-mass counterparts 8 years ago.
The Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen is the ideal location for me to pursue this research program because of their long-standing history and expertise in numerical hydrodynamics, astrophysical gas dynamics, and gravitational wave phenomena; and the Marie Curie Fellowship would enable substantial development of my skills as a researcher, educator, and communicator in order to achieve my goal of eventually leading an independent research group as a professor.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinatore
1165 Kobenhavn
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