CAREER: Tracing the Birth and Growth of Galaxy Clusters with the South Pole Telescope 3rd Generation Survey

星系团是拥有数以千计的单个星系的宇宙城市，比如我们的银河系，是宇宙中最大的物质集合。就像地球上最大的城市拥有最高的建筑一样，这些巨大的星系团拥有宇宙中最大的星系和最大的黑洞。这些嵌套结构(超大质量黑洞，在巨型星系内，在富星系团的中心)分享着共同的进化，以复杂而基本上未知的方式影响着彼此的增长。利用南极望远镜，以及来自各种地面和空间望远镜的支持数据，PI将建立有史以来最大的遥远星系团样本，跨越100亿年的宇宙历史。该计划的具体目标是了解最早的星系团的形成，见证最大质量星系在这些星系团中的聚集，并确定中心超大质量黑洞在控制星系团及其宿主星系演化方面的长期重要性。在这项研究的同时，我们正在为在校的本科生和研究生开发一所使用世界一流望远镜的“观测技术”学校，同时还帮助发展勇士学者项目的STEM计划，该计划旨在为应征入伍的退伍军人提供为期一周的STEM训练营，为四年制大学课程做准备。在这个项目的5年时间里，研究计划和两个推广计划的结合将为麻省理工学院的4名研究生和研究生以及来自全国各地的100多名学生和退伍军人提供研究和教育机会。星系团是宇宙中最大的天体，代表着一个极端环境，在这里更容易进行星系演化、黑洞反馈和结构增长的研究。在接下来的5-10年里，将通过各种“下一代”探测，如南极望远镜第三代探测(SPT-3G)，发现数以万计的新星系团。已知星系团数量的巨大增加，加上处理如此大量数据量的分析工具的必要改进，将使PI能够解决以下关键问题：(I)第一个星系团何时从宇宙网络分离、坍塌和动态松弛？(Ii)中央最大质量的星系何时聚集并沉入引力势的底部？(Iii)这些大质量星系中的黑洞是什么时候从快速吸积的类星体转变为射电响亮的星系，能够在100kpc尺度上调节高温星系团内介质的冷却？我们建议的项目将使用在五年拨款时间表过程中开发的各种新数据和工具，以统计严格的方式解决每个问题。在进行这项研究的同时，PI正在为活跃的世界级望远镜的本科生和研究生建立一个现场“观测技术”学院，同时还帮助发展勇士学者项目的STEM倡议，该计划旨在为应征入伍的退伍军人提供为期一周的STEM训练营，为四年制大学课程做准备。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Clusters of galaxies, cosmic cities hosting thousands of individual galaxies like our Milky Way, are the most massive collections of matter in the Universe. In the same way that the biggest cities on Earth host the tallest buildings, these massive clusters host the largest galaxies and the most massive black holes in the Universe. These nested structures (supermassive black holes, inside giant galaxies, at the centers of rich clusters) share a common evolution, influencing the growth of one another in complex and largely unknown ways. Using the South Pole Telescope, along with supporting data from a variety of ground- and space-based telescopes, the PI will build the largest ever sample of distant galaxy clusters, spanning 10 billion years of cosmic history. The specific goals of this program are to understand the formation of the very first clusters of galaxies, to witness the assembly of the most massive galaxies within these clusters, and to determine the long-term importance of the central supermassive black hole in governing the evolution of both the cluster and its host galaxies. In parallel to this research, we are developing an on-site "observational techniques" school for undergraduate and graduate students at an active, world-class telescope, while also helping to grow the STEM initiative for the Warrior Scholar Project, a program that aims to provide 1-week STEM bootcamps to enlisted veterans in preparation for a 4-year university program. Over the 5 years of this project, the combination of the research program and two outreach programs will provide research and education opportunities for four graduate and postgraduate researchers at MIT, and over 100 students and enlisted veterans from around the country.Galaxy clusters, the most massive objects in the Universe, represent an extreme environment where studies of galaxy evolution, black hole feedback, and growth of structure are more easily carried out. In the next 5-10 years, tens of thousands of new galaxy clusters will be discovered via a variety of "next-generation" surveys, such as the South Pole Telescope 3rd Generation survey (SPT-3G). This huge increase in the number of known clusters, coupled with a necessary improvement in analysis tools to handle such large data quantities, will allow the PI to address the following critical questions: (i) When did the first clusters separate from the cosmic web, collapse, and dynamically relax? (ii) When did the central, most massive galaxy assemble and settle into the bottom of the gravitational potential? (iii) When did the black holes in these massive galaxies transition from rapidly-accreting quasars to radio-loud galaxies capable of regulating cooling of the hot intracluster medium on 100 kpc scales? Our proposed program will address each of these questions in a statistically rigorous way using a variety of new data and tools developed over the course of 5-year grant timeline.In parallel to this research, the PI is developing an on-site "observational techniques" school for undergraduate and graduate students at an active, world-class telescope, while also helping to grow the STEM initiative for the Warrior Scholar Project, a program that aims to provide 1-week STEM bootcamps to enlisted veterans in preparation for a 4-year university program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.