A Systematic Survey of Dual Supermassive Black Holes as a Signpost for Galaxy Evolution

Julia Comerford博士被授予美国国家科学基金会天文学和天体物理学博士后奖学金，在德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校开展研究和教育项目。大量的观测表明，星系合并是常见的，几乎所有的星系都有一个中央超大质量黑洞（SMBH）；因此，由于最近的合并，一些星系必须拥有两个SMBHs。这两个SMBHs被称为“双SMBHs”，在合并后的第一个~100 Myr时，它们的分离速度为1kpc。这些双SMBH具有作为星系演化探测器的巨大潜力，因为它们是星系合并、活动星系核（AGN）在星系合并中的作用以及SMBH合并的观测示踪剂。然而，由于已知的双smbh系统数量很少，双smbh在研究这些主题方面的全部潜力尚未实现。Comerford博士建议使用光谱学将已知的双SMBHs数量增加几倍，并建立一个0 z2双SMBHs的统计目录。她将使用她的双SMBH目录来限制星系合并速率，AGN燃料和星系合并反馈的机制，以及未来引力波实验（如激光干涉仪空间天线（LISA））应该探测到的SMBH合并的数量。科默福德博士还将为天文学本科生讲授科学传播讲习班，以提高学生与公众和天文学界交流的效率。本科生研讨会的参与者将与奥斯汀东区纪念高中的少数族裔高中生分享他们的研究经验。此外，为了将科学交流技能的发展扩展到奥斯汀以外，科默福德博士将为德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校、德克萨斯农工大学和莱斯大学的天文学专业学生发起一年一度的为期一天的本科生研究研讨会。

Dr. Julia Comerford is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of Texas at Austin. A wealth of observations have shown that galaxy mergers are common and that nearly all galaxies host a central supermassive black hole (SMBH); consequently, some galaxies must host two SMBHs as the result of recent mergers. The two SMBHs are known as "dual SMBHs" for the first ~100 Myr after the merger when they are at separations 1 kpc. These dual SMBHs have significant potential as probes of galaxy evolution, as they are observational tracers of galaxy mergers, the role of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in galaxy mergers, and SMBH mergers. However, the full potential of dual SMBHs for studies of these topics has not yet been realized, due to the small number of known dual-SMBH systems. Dr. Comerford proposes to use optical spectroscopy to increase the number of known dual SMBHs several folds and build a statistical catalog of 0 z 2 dual SMBHs. She will use her dual-SMBH catalog to constrain the galaxy merger rate, mechanisms for AGN fueling and feedback in galaxy mergers, and the number of SMBH mergers that should be detected by future gravitational-wave experiments such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). Dr. Comerford will also teach science communication workshops for astronomy undergraduates to increase the students' effectiveness in communicating to the general public and to the astronomical community. Undergraduate workshop participants will share their research experiences with minority high school students at Eastside Memorial High School in Austin. In addition, to extend the development of scientific communication skills beyond Austin, Dr. Comerford will initiate an annual one-day Undergraduate Research Symposium for astronomy majors from the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University and Rice University.