Kinematic Signatures of Black Hole Growth in the Local Universe

艾琳·希克斯博士被授予NSF天文学和天体物理学博士后奖学金，在华盛顿大学(UW)开展研究和教育计划。在过去的十年里，人们越来越清楚地看到，超大质量黑洞(BHS)在星系演化中扮演着举足轻重的角色。这一发现的推动力是，大多数星系(如果不是全部)都有黑洞，黑洞的质量与宿主星系的全球性质有关，这很可能是星系及其黑洞的共同演化的结果。人们普遍认为，BHS是通过吸积来自宿主星系的物质来积累质量的，这一过程是活动星系核(AGN)背后的能量来源。在椭圆星系中发现的大质量黑洞被认为是早期宇宙中发生的强烈类星体活动星系核活动的产物，这是主要星系合并的结果。相比之下，在局部宇宙中正在进行的黑洞增长主要发生在拥有塞弗特活动星系核的螺旋星系中，其驱动机制(S)尚不清楚。尽管在这些星系中发生了显著的黑洞增长，但没有观察到这种活动与大尺度现象(100pc)的相关性；这表明这种吸积模式的触发机制，从而它在星系演化中的作用，隐藏在较小的尺度上。希克斯博士将在赛弗特星系和非活动星系的配对样本中，对二维分子气体运动学和恒星运动学进行首次比较研究，尺度小到10pC。希克斯博士将在理论模型的背景下解释观察到的气体流入的运动学特征，从而约束负责黑洞增长的机制(S)。希克斯还将在威斯康星大学领导两项教育活动，旨在激发不同群体的本科生对天文学领域的兴趣，并鼓励这些学生以天文学为职业。作为著名的威斯康星大学天文学专业预科项目(Pre-MAP)的参与者，希克斯博士将在整个为期一年的项目中提供入门级研究项目和一对一的学生指导。该项目从传统上在科学领域代表性较低的群体招收新生，并将天文学作为本科专业进行推广。希克斯博士还将帮助将Pre-MAP的成功推广到威斯康星州其他STEM部门。将与最近创建的、由NSF资助的太平洋西北路易斯·斯托克斯少数群体参与联盟(PNW LSAMP)建立合作伙伴关系，以协助在UW的其他科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)部门实施类似的计划。这将包括在课程建设、为收购和研究项目开发提供资金方面的新计划方面的合作，并将努力实现PNW LSAMP五年计划的目标，即将STEM领域毕业的未被充分代表的少数民族学生数量增加一倍。希克斯博士的第二项教育活动将是一门名为《星系：从黑洞到超星系团》的课程，将在威斯康星州大学天文学系内开发和教授。本课程将直接借鉴希克斯博士的研究活动和相关主题，并将提供机会与非科学专业的学生分享银河系外研究的魅力。该课程的目标之一将是让学生意识到该领域令人兴奋的突破并了解其基本原理，认识到科学方法在日常生活中的适用性，并培养对天文学的终身兴趣，这将使他们在未来继续参与该领域的工作。

Dr. Erin Hicks is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of Washington (UW). Over the past decade it has become increasingly clear that supermassive black holes (BHs) play a pivotal role in galaxy evolution. This revelation has been driven by the discovery that most, if not all, galaxies harbor a BH, and that the mass of the BH is related to the global properties of the host galaxy, likely as a consequence of the co-evolution of galaxies and their BHs. It is widely accepted that BHs accumulate mass through accretion of material from the host galaxy and that this process is the source of power behind active galactic nuclei (AGN). The massive BHs found in elliptical galaxies are understood to be products of intense quasar AGN activity occurring in the early universe as a result of major galaxy mergers. In contrast, the ongoing BH growth in the local universe occurs primarily in spiral galaxies hosting Seyfert AGN, the driving mechanism(s) of which are not yet known. Despite the significant BH growth occurring in these galaxies, there is no observed correlation of this activity with large-scale phenomena (100 pc); this indicates that the triggering mechanism of this mode of accretion, and thus its role in galaxy evolution, is hidden on smaller scales. Dr Hicks will conduct the first comparative study of the two-dimensional molecular gas kinematics, as well as stellar kinematics, on scales down to 10 pc in a matched sample of Seyfert and inactive galaxies. Dr. Hicks will interpret the observed kinematic signatures of gas inflow in the context of theoretical models, and will thereby constrain the mechanism(s) responsible for BH growth in the local universe.Dr. Hicks will also lead two educational activities at UW that aim to excite a diverse population of undergraduate students about the field of astronomy and to encourage these students to pursue astronomy as a career. As a participant in the well-established UW Pre-Major in Astronomy Program (Pre-MAP), which recruits incoming students from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in science and promotes astronomy as an undergraduate major, Dr. Hicks will provide entry level research projects drawn from the proposed galaxy evolution research as well as one-on-one student mentoring throughout the yearlong program. Dr. Hicks will also help to spread the success of Pre-MAP to other STEM departments across UW. A partnership will be formed with the recently created, NSF-funded Pacific Northwest Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (PNW LSAMP) to assist with the implementation of similar programs in other Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) departments across UW. This will include collaboration on new programs in curriculum building, funding acquisition and research project development, and will work toward the PNW LSAMP five-year goal of doubling the number of underrepresented minority students graduating in STEM fields. Dr. Hicks's second educational activity will be a course entitled "Galaxies: From Black Holes to Superclusters," to be developed and taught within the UW astronomy department. This course will draw directly from Dr. Hicks's research activities and related topics, and will provide the opportunity to share the fascination of extragalactic research with non-science majors. Among the goals of the course will be for students to gain awareness of exciting breakthroughs in the field and understanding of the fundamental principles underlying them, to recognize the applicability of the scientific method in daily life, and to develop a lifelong interest in astronomy that leads to their continued engagement in the field in the future.