High-Redshift Black Hole Mass Measurements with Multi-Object Reverberation Mapping

使用多对象混响映射进行高红移黑洞质量测量

• 批准号: 1615553
• 负责人: Paul Martini
• 金额: $ 33.61万
• 依托单位: Ohio State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-07-01 至 2021-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1615553&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Redshift; Black; Hole; Mass; Measurements

Quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) are the cores of distant galaxies whose extreme activity is powered by black holes that may be billions of times the mass of our Sun. The team will study how the optical emission from distant QSOs varies over time. If a QSO's light emission brightens quickly, the surrounding gas will brighten after a time delay that depends on its distance from the black hole. This is the basis of reverberation mapping. The team will measure the time delays for the gas to brighten in a number of QSOs. By modeling the time delay for each QSO, the team will determine the mass of its black hole and the structure of the surrounding gas. They will also develop shortcuts for estimating black hole masses for distant QSOs. Senior team members will train junior members. The public will be informed about the fascinating subject of massive black holes through public talks, social media, and planetarium show content. The team will complete a multi-year campaign of photometric and spectroscopic monitoring of nearly 800 high-redshift QSOs. Their goals are to (1) use reverberation mapping to measure the black hole masses of the QSOs; (2) study the structure of the broad emission-line regions of the QSOs; and (3) develop secondary ways of estimating black hole masses for the population of QSOs at high redshift.

类恒星天体(QSO)是遥远星系的核心，其极端活动是由质量可能是太阳数十亿倍的黑洞提供动力的。该团队将研究遥远类星体的光发射如何随时间变化。如果类星体的光发射迅速变亮，周围的气体将在一段时间后变亮，这取决于它与黑洞的距离。这是混响映射的基础。该团队将在多个类星体中测量气体变亮的时间延迟。通过对每个类星体的时间延迟进行建模，该团队将确定其黑洞的质量和周围气体的结构。他们还将开发估算遥远类星体黑洞质量的捷径。高级团队成员将培训初级成员。公众将通过公开演讲、社交媒体和天文馆展示内容了解这个引人入胜的大质量黑洞主题。该团队将完成对近800个高红移类星体的光度和光谱监测的多年活动。他们的目标是(1)使用混响映射来测量类星体的黑洞质量；(2)研究类星体的宽发射线区域的结构；(3)发展估计高红移类星体数量的第二种方法。