Collaborative Research: The multi-scale physics of massive black hole formation, fueling and feedback

该项目将建立一个理论和计算天体物理网络，主要节点在马里兰大学、佐治亚理工学院和耶鲁大学，以推进超大质量黑洞（SMBHs）的形成、燃料和反馈理论。该项目建议通过将模拟大规模SMBH现象（即宇宙引力坍缩和AGN喷流）的计算代码与小规模现象（即SMBH形成和星系结构反馈）联系起来来完成这项任务。在“形成阶段”，该项目打算通过数值模拟大规模重子结构和暗物质晕的耦合，以小规模的原始气体盘坍缩成大质量黑洞种子，来回答早期宇宙中第一个黑洞种子是如何形成的问题。在“加油阶段”，该项目旨在探索大黑洞种子从星系尺度吸积流到大黑洞合并的成长过程。最后，“反馈阶段”的目标是探索活动星系核（AGN）中心的SMBHs在宇宙尺度上与星系团间等离子体耦合的机制。该网络将通过本科生、研究生和博士后的参与，促进科学劳动力的发展。该项目将通过开发3d可视化技术向公众传达结果，让观众见证SMBH的诞生和成长及其对宇宙环境的影响。

This project will create a Theoretical and Computational Astrophysics Network with major nodes at the University of Maryland, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Yale University to advance the theory of formation, fueling, and feedback of supermassive black holes (SMBHs). The project proposes to accomplish this task by linking computational codes simulating large-scale SMBH phenomena (i.e. cosmological gravitational collapse and AGN jets) to the small-scale phenomena (i.e. SMBH formation and feedback on galactic structure). For the "formation stage", the project intends to answer the question of how the first black hole (BH) seeds formed within the early universe by numerically simulating the coupling of large-scale baryonic structures and dark-matter halos to small-scale collapse of primordial gas disks into massive BH seeds. For the "fueling stage" the project aims to explore the growth of the BH seed into a SMBH from galaxy-scale accretion flows to SMBH mergers. Finally, for the "feedback stage" the goal is to explore the mechanisms by which the SMBHs at the centers of active galactic nuclei (AGN) couple to the inter-cluster plasma on cosmological scales. The network will contribute to scientific workforce development through the involvement of undergraduate students, graduate students and postdocs. The project will communicate results to the public through development of a 3-D visualization taking the viewer on a journey to witness the birth and growth of a SMBH and its influence on the cosmological environment.