CAREER: Exploring the Warped Spacetimes of Astrophysical Black Holes

目前对早期宇宙中超大质量黑洞的观测对我们理解这些独特天体的形成和生长提出了严重的问题。Dimitrios Psaltis博士（亚利桑那大学）将确定超大质量黑洞是否可以仅通过吸积在早期宇宙中生长。这将通过使用Psaltis博士及其小组最近开发的光谱、3D、磁流体动力学算法模拟黑洞上的吸积流来实现，该算法将通过纳入对辐射过程的详细处理来进一步增强。这项研究的结果将是第一次从头计算的极限速率的质量吸积的超大质量黑洞。 该项目还将评估利用吸积黑洞进行重力测试的可行性。此外，它将使用参数理论框架确定天体物理学黑洞是否由广义相对论的克尔度规描述，这一研究项目的一个组成部分将是开发任意弯曲时空中粒子和光子轨道可视化模块。这些模块将成为宝贵的工具，在教育学生的各种几何方面的理论。Psaltis，由几个本科生的协助下，将开发一个独立的，基于网络的，相对论概念的教学可视化工具。 两名研究生和几名本科生将在研究计划期间接受相对论，计算天体物理学和运输方法的各个方面的教育，这两个方面对于天体物理学以外的物理学研究的一些学科都很重要。

Current observations of supermassive black holes in the early Universe pose serious questions on our understanding of the formation and growth of these unique astrophysical objects. Dr. Dimitrios Psaltis (University of Arizona) will determine whether supermassive black holes can grow in the early Universe solely by accretion. This will be achieved by simulating accretion flows onto black holes using the spectral, 3D, magnetohydrodynamic algorithm recently developed by Dr. Psaltis and his group, which will be further enhanced by incorporating a detailed treatment of radiative processes. The result of this investigation will be the first ab initio calculation of the limiting rate of mass accretion by a supermassive black hole. This project will also assess the viability of performing tests of gravity using accreting black holes. Moreover, it will establish, using a parametric theoretical framework, whether the astrophysical black holes are described by the Kerr metric of General Relativity.An integral part of this research project will be the development of modules for the visualization of particle and photon orbits in arbitrary curved spacetimes. These modules will become valuable tools in educating students in the various geometric aspects of the theory. Dr. Psaltis, assisted by several undergraduate students, will develop a self contained, web-based, visual tool for the teaching of relativistic concepts. Two graduate students and several undergraduate students will be educated during the research program in various aspects of relativity, computational astrophysics, and transport methods, both of which are important for a number of disciplines of physics research other than astrophysics.