CAREER: Tracing the Birth and Growth of Galaxy Clusters with the South Pole Telescope 3rd Generation Survey

星系团，宇宙城市，拥有数千个像我们银河系这样的独立星系，是宇宙中最大的物质集合。就像地球上最大的城市拥有最高的建筑物一样，这些巨大的星系团拥有宇宙中最大的星系和最大的黑洞。这些嵌套结构（超大质量黑洞，在巨大的星系内，在丰富的星系团中心）共享一个共同的演化，以复杂和未知的方式影响彼此的生长。 利用南极望远镜，沿着来自各种地面和太空望远镜的支持数据，PI将建立有史以来最大的遥远星系团样本，跨越100亿年的宇宙历史。该计划的具体目标是了解第一个星系团的形成，见证这些星系团中最大质量星系的组装，并确定中央超大质量黑洞在控制星系团及其宿主星系演化方面的长期重要性。在这项研究的同时，我们正在为本科生和研究生在一个活跃的，世界一流的望远镜上开发一个现场“观察技术”学校，同时还帮助发展战士学者项目的STEM计划，该计划旨在为入伍的退伍军人提供为期1周的STEM训练营，为4年的大学课程做准备。在这个项目的5年里，研究计划和两个推广计划的结合将为麻省理工学院的四名研究生和研究生研究人员，以及来自全国各地的100多名学生和退伍军人提供研究和教育机会。星系团是宇宙中最大的物体，代表了一个极端的环境，在那里研究星系演化，黑洞反馈，和结构的生长更容易进行。在未来5-10年内，将通过各种“下一代”调查发现数万个新的星系团，例如南极望远镜第三代调查（SPT-3G）。已知星系团数量的巨大增加，加上分析工具的必要改进以处理如此大的数据量，将使PI能够解决以下关键问题：（i）第一个星系团何时从宇宙网中分离，崩溃，并动态放松？(ii)中央最大的星系是什么时候聚集在一起并进入引力势的底部的？(iii)这些大质量星系中的黑洞是什么时候从快速吸积的类星体转变为能够在100 kpc尺度上调节热的团内介质冷却的射电大声星系的？我们提出的计划将使用在5年资助时间轴内开发的各种新数据和工具，以严格的统计方式解决这些问题。与此同时，PI正在为本科生和研究生在一个活跃的世界级望远镜上开发一个现场“观测技术”学校，同时还帮助发展战士学者项目的STEM计划，该计划旨在为退伍军人提供为期1周的STEM训练营，为4年制大学课程做准备。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。

Clusters of galaxies, cosmic cities hosting thousands of individual galaxies like our Milky Way, are the most massive collections of matter in the Universe. In the same way that the biggest cities on Earth host the tallest buildings, these massive clusters host the largest galaxies and the most massive black holes in the Universe. These nested structures (supermassive black holes, inside giant galaxies, at the centers of rich clusters) share a common evolution, influencing the growth of one another in complex and largely unknown ways. Using the South Pole Telescope, along with supporting data from a variety of ground- and space-based telescopes, the PI will build the largest ever sample of distant galaxy clusters, spanning 10 billion years of cosmic history. The specific goals of this program are to understand the formation of the very first clusters of galaxies, to witness the assembly of the most massive galaxies within these clusters, and to determine the long-term importance of the central supermassive black hole in governing the evolution of both the cluster and its host galaxies. In parallel to this research, we are developing an on-site "observational techniques" school for undergraduate and graduate students at an active, world-class telescope, while also helping to grow the STEM initiative for the Warrior Scholar Project, a program that aims to provide 1-week STEM bootcamps to enlisted veterans in preparation for a 4-year university program. Over the 5 years of this project, the combination of the research program and two outreach programs will provide research and education opportunities for four graduate and postgraduate researchers at MIT, and over 100 students and enlisted veterans from around the country.Galaxy clusters, the most massive objects in the Universe, represent an extreme environment where studies of galaxy evolution, black hole feedback, and growth of structure are more easily carried out. In the next 5-10 years, tens of thousands of new galaxy clusters will be discovered via a variety of "next-generation" surveys, such as the South Pole Telescope 3rd Generation survey (SPT-3G). This huge increase in the number of known clusters, coupled with a necessary improvement in analysis tools to handle such large data quantities, will allow the PI to address the following critical questions: (i) When did the first clusters separate from the cosmic web, collapse, and dynamically relax? (ii) When did the central, most massive galaxy assemble and settle into the bottom of the gravitational potential? (iii) When did the black holes in these massive galaxies transition from rapidly-accreting quasars to radio-loud galaxies capable of regulating cooling of the hot intracluster medium on 100 kpc scales? Our proposed program will address each of these questions in a statistically rigorous way using a variety of new data and tools developed over the course of 5-year grant timeline.In parallel to this research, the PI is developing an on-site "observational techniques" school for undergraduate and graduate students at an active, world-class telescope, while also helping to grow the STEM initiative for the Warrior Scholar Project, a program that aims to provide 1-week STEM bootcamps to enlisted veterans in preparation for a 4-year university program.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.