Collaborative Research: Investigations of Quasar Variability with High-Cadence Spectroscopy

该项目将研究类星体的内部运作，类星体是位于星系中心的超大质量黑洞，正在吸入大量物质。当超大质量黑洞下落时，这种物质在超大质量黑洞周围形成一个热盘，并以极高的亮度在整个电磁频谱上发射，使这些物体在整个可观测宇宙中都可见。该项目将利用包含数千个类星体观测结果的前所未有的数据集，揭示类星体内部环境的细节，这对于理解超大质量黑洞与其所在星系之间的关系非常重要。这种理解对于确定星系如何形成、演化以及形成我们今天所看到的宇宙非常重要。此外，该项目还将为亚利桑那大学黑洞主题夏令营和康涅狄格大学物理系学生暑期桥梁项目提供支持；这两个项目都专门从 STEM 领域代表性不足的群体中招募和瞄准学生。超大质量黑洞 (SMBH) 与其宿主星系之间相互作用的性质是星系形成和演化研究中尚未解答的主要问题之一。类星体是研究这些问题的主要目标。然而，由于类星体的角尺寸较小，因此很难表征其内部区域。类星体的变化可用于从各种不同角度了解SMBH周围的环境，从而为活动星系核反馈和星系演化的研究提供关键信息。拟议的项目将利用 SDSS III/IV 混响测绘项目和 SDSS-V 黑洞测绘器混响测绘项目的高节奏和长时间光谱监测，这些项目正在获取数千个类星体的数百个光谱历元。该项目将充分利用这些数据来：（1）通过研究类星体光谱中宽吸收特征的变化来测量类星体吸积盘风的特性。这将测量这些流出物中包含的能量，从而使我们能够确定这些流出物是否可以为类星体宿主星系提供重要的反馈； （2）测量多种类星体发射线在不同时间尺度上的集合变异特征，提供类星体宽线发射区的物理条件信息，并识别搜索双黑洞的误报率； （3）对“极端”变异事件进行系统搜索，这将使我们能够区分吸积盘和能量学的不同模型。这项研究的结果将使我们能够更好地描述控制类星体活动的内部环境和吸积物理，使我们能够更好地了解它们与其所在星系的相互作用。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值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 investigate the inner workings of quasars, which are supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies that are pulling in large amounts of material. The material forms a hot disk around the supermassive black hole as it falls and emits across the entire electromagnetic spectrum at extremely high luminosities, making these objects visible across the entire observable universe. Using an unprecedented dataset containing observations of thousands of quasars, this project will uncover details about the inner environments of quasars, which are important for understanding the relationship between the supermassive black holes and the galaxies they live in. This understanding is important for determining how galaxies form, evolve, and resulted in the universe that we see today. In addition, this project will provide support for a black-hole themed summer camp at the University of Arizona and a summer bridge program for physics students at the University of Connecticut; both of these programs specifically recruit and target students from groups that are underrepresented in STEM fields.The nature of the interaction between supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and their host galaxies is one of the major unanswered questions in studies of galaxy formation and evolution. Quasars are prime targets for investigating these questions; however, the inner regions of quasars are difficult to characterize due to their small angular size. Variability in quasars can be used to learn about the environment surrounding the SMBH from a variety of different angles, thus providing critical information for studies of AGN feedback and galaxy evolution. The proposed project will leverage high-cadence and long-duration spectroscopic monitoring from the SDSS III/IV Reverberation Mapping Project and the SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper Reverberation Mapping Project, which are obtaining hundreds of spectral epochs for thousands of quasars. This project will make full use of these data to: (1) Measure properties of quasar accretion-disk winds by studying the variability of broad absorption features in quasar spectra. This will measure the energy contained within these outflows, which allows us to determine whether these outflows can provide significant feedback to the quasar host galaxies; (2) Measure ensemble variability characteristics of a variety of quasar emission lines over a variety of different timescales, which provides information on physical conditions of the quasar broad-line emitting regions and identifies the false-positive rate of searches for binary black holes; (3) Do a systematic search for "extreme" variability events, which will allow us to distinguish between different models of accretion disks and energetics. The results from this study will allow us to better characterize the inner environment and accretion physics governing the activity of quasars, allowing us to better understand their interactions with the galaxies in which they reside.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.