Project description
Probing super-Eddington accretion and its cosmic impact
As matter falls onto compact objects at rates approaching the Eddington limit, it can trigger powerful radiation-driven outflows that are believed to shape galaxies and black hole growth. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the MUMUSE project investigates how matter behaves when accretion onto compact objects exceeds the Eddington limit – a regime where powerful radiation-driven outflows are expected but not well understood. It will use nearby ultraluminous X-ray sources and their surrounding nebulae as natural laboratories, combining multi-wavelength data, simulations and photo-ionisation modelling. By comparing simulated and observed nebular emission, the project aims to measure the energy and directional distribution of these extreme outflows and improve understanding of how they influence their environments and black hole growth.
Objective
The standard theory of accretion breaks down as the the mass-transfer rate increases and the accretion luminosity approaches the classical Eddington limit. At this point, radiation pressure overcomes gravity, and powerful radiatively-driven outflows are launched from the accretion disk. Systems in this regime, such as Tidal Disruption Events, Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxies, and Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs), are expected to exert the strongest feedback on the environment due to both the intense radiation field and the aforementioned outflows. This process is also thought to have played a fundamental role in the early growth of supermassive black holes, but many details remain unclear. In particular, while models predict highly anisotropic emission from super-Eddington accretion disks due to the presence of strong outflows enshrouding the inner disk, the energy and angular distribution from these flows has never been measured observationally. Consequently, the radiative feedback from these systems remains largely unknown,
precluding an understanding of their capacity to influence their environments and beyond.
I propose to provide the first measurements of the energy and angular distribution of the emission in super-Eddington flows using the nearby ULXs and their photo-ionized nebulae as laboratories. What I propose is to employ an innovative approach, whereby using photo-ionization photo-ionization codes, I will simulate nebulae irradiated by anisotropic super-Eddington accretion models derived from a combination of multi-wavelength ULX data, theory and numerical simulations. Then, comparing each photo-ionization simulation with a suite of nebular observations obtained from optical and infrared Integral-Field Unit spectroscopy, I will discriminate between models, testing our understanding of super-Eddington accretion flows from first principles, shedding light on the physics of sustained super-Eddington accretion and its feedback on the environment.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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1012WX Amsterdam
Netherlands
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