Understanding the role of feedback from supermassive black holes in galaxy formation

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The Cold Dark Matter model for the formation and evolution of structure in the Universe successfully describes how galaxies and clusters of galaxies are spread throughout the cosmos. However it fails to describe the basic properties of galaxies themselves. Astronomers are beginning to realize that this failure is related to a key piece of missing physics: outflows of matter and energy from supermassive black holes in the nuclei of galaxies. These outflows are difficult to model in part because there are few reliable measurements of the energy they release. The best measurements have emerged from recent X-ray observations of galaxies and galaxy clusters.