Collaborative Research: Reverberation Mapping with Multi-Object Spectroscopy - from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping to the Black Hole Mapper

这个项目将研究宇宙中大多数大星系中心徘徊的超大质量黑洞发出的光的闪烁。这些超大质量黑洞的质量超过太阳质量的一百万倍(最高可达约百亿倍)，而由物质注入这些黑洞的发光辐射可以超过来自整个星系的恒星光，从而使这些黑洞能够在宇宙中非常遥远的区域被观测到。在这个项目中，天文学家将测量来自这些超大质量黑洞的辐射的变化，以及紧邻黑洞周围的物质如何对这种变化做出回应。这种测量到的回声使天文学家能够推断这些正在活跃增长的怪物黑洞的质量，进而帮助他们了解超大质量黑洞是如何在宇宙历史上形成和演化的。在更广泛的影响领域，私人投资机构计划将他们的研究纳入其各自机构的强有力的教育和外联计划中。特别是，这些项目包括以数据分析为中心的高中女生夏令营，面向中学的黑洞工作坊，以及面向非传统背景的物理本科生的新的夏季桥牌项目。这些计划将鼓励传统上在STEM领域代表性不足的群体的参与。超大质量黑洞无处不在，位于宇宙中大质量星系的中心。当它们积极地吸积物质以积累质量时，它们可以产生巨大的辐射，通常使这些巨大黑洞所在的整个星系黯然失色。这种来自活跃的超大质量黑洞的辐射并不是恒定不变的，而是以现代天文设备可以测量到的水平闪烁。该项目将在五年内测量数千个这种活跃的超大质量黑洞的闪烁，以及紧邻黑洞周围的气体云的“回声”。这些回波测量将推断这些气体云在黑洞附近的空间范围，并使测量黑洞质量成为可能。该项目将使用这项技术在史无前例的工业规模上测量活跃的超大质量黑洞的质量，其中大多数距离我们数十亿光年，以了解超大质量黑洞的宇宙演化及其与其所在星系的关系。这一奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

This project will study the flicker of light from supermassive black holes that linger at the center of most of the big galaxies in the universe. These supermassive black holes weigh more than a million (up to about ten billion) times the mass of the Sun, and the glowing radiation from materials being “fed” into these black holes can outshine the star light from the entire galaxy, allowing these black holes to be observed in the very distant regions of the universe. In this project, astronomers will measure the variations of radiation from these supermassive black holes and how the materials immediately surrounding the black hole “echo” this variability. This measured echo allows astronomers to infer the mass of these monster black holes that are actively growing, and, in turn, help them understand how supermassive black holes form and evolve across cosmic history. In the area of Broader Impacts, the PIs plan to incorporate their research into strong educational and outreach programs at each of their institutions. In particular, these programs include a summer camp for high school girls, centered on data analysis, a black-hole workshop for middle schools, and a new summer bridge program for physics undergraduates from non-traditional backgrounds. These programs will encourage the participation of groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields.Supermassive black holes are ubiquitous at the center of massive galaxies in the universe. When they are actively accreting matter to build up their mass, they can produce immense radiation that often outshines the entire galaxy in which these massive black holes reside. This radiation from active supermassive black holes is not constant, but flickers at levels that are measurable with modern astronomical facilities. This project will measure the flicker from thousands of such active supermassive black holes over a five-year period, and the “echoes” from gas clouds immediately surrounding the black hole. These echo measurements will infer the spatial extent of these gas clouds in the vicinity of the black hole, and enable the measurement of the black hole mass. This project will use this technique to measure the masses of active supermassive black holes on an unprecedented industrial scale, most of which are billions of light years away, to understand the cosmic evolution of supermassive black holes and their relationships with their host galaxies.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.