Postdoctoral Fellowship: AAPF: A precise measurement of intermediate-mass black hole demographics with the Rubin Observatory

科林·伯克被授予美国国家科学基金会天文学和天体物理学奖学金，以在耶鲁大学开展一项研究和教育计划。伯克将研究和执行新的技术来识别中等质量的黑洞--恒星质量和超大质量黑洞之间缺失的一环--从大型光学测量中的吸积信号中识别出来。这项研究的结果将告诉我们对超大质量黑洞的形成和演化的理解，超大质量黑洞可以在附近宇宙的每个大质量星系中找到。Burke将开展推广活动，向对科学感兴趣的未被充分代表的高中生介绍天文学编程中的新数据科学。该计划将开发和应用贝叶斯建模技术，利用Vera C.Rubin天文台遗产时空调查等调查数据来研究中等质量黑洞的数量。将使用多种互补的建模方法和数据集来实现拟议的目标。利用这些数据和方法，伯克将对中等质量黑洞的数密度和性质施加新的限制，并将它们用作实验室，研究黑洞在人类时间尺度上的吸积物理。这个项目推进了美国国家科学基金会“宇宙之窗”的目标。该研究奖的部分资金来自查尔斯·西蒙尼给美国国家科学基金会天文学部门的慷慨捐赠。该项目包括对Vera C.Rubin天文台的遗产空间和时间调查的重大贡献。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Colin Burke is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at Yale University. Burke will study and execute new techniques for identifying intermediate-mass black holes — the missing link between stellar mass and supermassive black holes — from accretion signatures in large optical surveys. Results from the study will inform our understanding of the formation and evolution of supermassive black holes that can be found in every massive galaxy in the nearby Universe. Burke will conduct outreach activities to introduce new data science in astronomy programming to underrepresented high school students interested in a career in science.This program will develop and apply Bayesian modeling techniques to study the population of intermediate-mass black holes using survey data such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time. Multiple complementary modeling approaches and datasets will be used to accomplish the proposed goals. Using these data and methods, Burke will place new constraints on the number densities and properties of intermediate-mass black holes and use them as laboratories for studying the physics of black hole accretion on human timescales. This project advances the goals of the NSF Windows on the Universe Big Idea. This research award is partially funded by a generous gift from Charles Simonyi to the NSF Astronomy division. The project includes significant contributions to Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time.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.