WoU-MMA: Dwarf AGNs from Variability for the Origins of Seeds (DAVOS)

中等质量黑洞的合并被认为是引力波的主要来源，将在即将到来的太空实验中被探测到。为了确定速率和解释引力波信号，对黑洞数密度的独立测量是至关重要的。然而，矮星系中黑洞的比例限制得很差。这是推进多信使天文学这一激动人心的新领域的一个主要障碍。该项目将测量矮星系中中等质量黑洞的数量、密度和分布。它将在高红移的低质量星系中发现新的矮活动星系核（AGN）候选者。它将对中等质量黑洞的起源做出有根据的推断。它对星系演化和解释引力波具有广泛的意义。该项目还将创造社会价值。它将在公共教育和课堂上传播知识。它还将制定专门的外展计划，以促进科学的多样性。该计划将利用一种新的质量估计方法，并利用最先进的天气调查来测量银河系外最好的深场矮星系中黑洞的占比。它将测试并可能区分所有超大质量黑洞的播种模型。它将产生直接的黑洞质量估计（或上限），否则在尚未充分探索的中质量体系中是不可行的。生成的所有代码都将是开源的，以便广泛的社区使用。该项目将成为鲁宾、欧几里得和罗马天文台进行大规模矮核AGN研究的探路者。该奖项旨在解决/推进宇宙之窗大构想的目标。该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知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Mergers of intermediate mass black holes are expected as prime sources of gravitational waves to be detected by upcoming experiments in space. To determine the rates and interpret the gravitational wave signals, independent measurements of the black hole number densities are critical. However, the fraction of black holes in dwarf galaxies is poorly constrained. This presents a major hurdle in advancing the exciting new frontier of multi-messenger astronomy. This project will measure the number densities and distributions of intermediate mass black holes in dwarf galaxies. It will discover new dwarf active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidates in lower mass galaxies at higher redshift. It will make informed inferences on the origins of intermediate mass black holes. It has broad implications for galaxy evolution and for interpreting gravitational waves. The program will also create societal values. It will disseminate knowledge in public education and classrooms. It will also develop dedicated outreach programs to promote diversity in science.This program will leverage a new mass estimation method and harness state-of-the-art synoptic surveys to measure the black hole occupation fraction in dwarf galaxies in the best extragalactic deep fields. It will test and potentially distinguish seeding models for all supermassive black holes. It will produce direct black hole mass estimates (or upper limits) that are not yet feasible otherwise in the poorly explored intermediate-mass regime. All codes generated will be open-sourced to enable broad community usage. The program will be a pathfinder for large-scale dwarf AGN studies with the Rubin, Euclid, and Roman observatories. This award addresses/advances the goals of the Windows on the Universe Big Idea.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.