CAREER: Campaigning for Better Black Hole Mass Relations

为了了解超大质量黑洞与其宿主星系之间的物理关系，确定黑洞本身的质量至关重要。不幸的是，我们只能直接测量邻近星系的黑洞质量。为了充分了解黑洞在宇宙距离上的能量影响，我们必须使用次要指标来估计它们的质量。这些所谓的尺度关系是我们了解高红移星系和黑洞的基础，但它们仍然没有得到很好的确定。PI将执行一项多波长观测计划，旨在消除许多已知的不确定性来源，并通过直接测量黑洞质量来分散在活动星系核样本中。PI将(1)开展一项新的混响测绘调查，以测量20个星系的黑洞质量；(2)利用核区的积分场单元观测来测量恒星动力学；(3)利用21厘米光谱学推导到宿主星系的距离。这个项目将巩固尺度关系，这是社区在宇宙距离估计黑洞质量时大量使用的关系，并将为我们在整个宇宙历史中对星系和黑洞的理解取得重大飞跃铺平道路。PI还将与大亚特兰大的女童子军合作，为4-5年级和高中的女童子军创建和举办天文学讲习班。PI的工作将影响到成千上万的年轻女孩，她将鼓励她们对科学和观察自然世界的兴趣。

In order to understand the physical relationship between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies, it is essential to determine the mass of the black hole itself. Unfortunately we are limited to directly measuring black hole masses in nearby galaxies. In order to fully understand the energetic impact of black holes at cosmological distances, we must instead use secondary indicators to estimate their masses. These so-called scaling relationships are fundamental to our knowledge of galaxies and black holes at high redshifts, but they remain poorly determined. The PI will perform a multiwavelength observational program that is targeted at removing many known sources of uncertainty and scatter among a sample of Active Galactic Nuclei with direct black hole mass measurements. The PI will (1) carry out a new reverberation mapping survey to measure black hole masses in 20 galaxies; (2) use integral field unit observations of the nuclear region to measure stellar dynamics; and (3) derive distances to the host galaxies using 21 cm spectroscopy.This program will solidify the scaling relationships that are heavily used by the community for estimating black hole masses at cosmological distances and will pave the way for a significant leap forward in our understanding of galaxies and black holes throughout cosmic history. The PI will also partner with the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta to create and present astronomy workshops for Girl Scouts in grades 4-5 and high school. The PI's work will reach thousands of young girls, and she will encourage their interest in science and observations of the natural world.