Shining light on the black hole mass distribution

在所有宇宙尺度上，黑洞都是恒星和星系演化的重要组成部分，也是基础物理学的研究对象。这个项目旨在填补我们在黑洞质量的经验知识方面的一些空白，特别是在几乎未被探索的区域，大约在30到10^5太阳质量之间，从质量差距的两端解决这个问题。我将通过光谱中的发射和吸收线来揭示研究黑洞周围气体和恒星的运动，从而来测量或限制黑洞的质量。对于恒星质量系统，我将结合盖亚的自行测量和LAMOST对银河系恒星的光谱巡天中搜寻双星系统中的黑洞。对于中等质量黑洞和低质量核黑洞,我将使用新修订的比例关系来定义一个更合适的拥有此类天体的样本星系。我将利用x射线和射电的后续研究来检验最有价值的候选体，搜寻致密候选天体的吸积信号。除了确定黑洞质量分布的具体目标外，该项目还将给出与各种天体物理学前沿热点相关的新的经验知识，如引力波探测、潮汐扰动事件、星系合并和核坍缩超新星。

Black holes are an essential component of stellar and galaxy evolution at all cosmic scales, as well as probes of fundamental physics. However, the mass distribution of black holes is still very uncertain. First, we do not have strong observational constraints on the highest possible mass for black holes formed from stellar collapses. Second, we also know very little about the smallest black holes in the nuclei of galaxies. Third, we do not know if there is a physically distinct population of intermediate-mass black holes filling the mass range between the two classes. These uncertainties hamper our theoretical understanding and numerical modelling of how black holes form, grow, and affect their environment. This project aims at bridging some of those gaps in our empirical knowledge of black hole masses, especially in the almost unexplored region between about $30$ and $10^5$ solar masses, tackling the problem from both ends of the mass gap. I will measure or constrain black hole masses by studying the motion of gas and stars around them, revealed by emission and absorption lines in their spectra. For stellar-mass systems, I will search for black holes in binary systems from the LAMOST spectroscopic survey of Milky Way stars, combined with Gaia's measurements of proper motion. For intermediate-mass black holes and low-mass nuclear black holes, I will use newly revised scaling relations to define a more suitable sample of galaxies that may host such objects, and I will examine the most promising candidates with X-ray and radio follow-up studies, looking for signs of accretion from the candidate compact objects. In addition to the specific goal of determining the black hole mass distribution, this project will provide new empirical knowledge relevant to a variety of astrophysical topics, such as gravitational wave detection, tidal disruption events, galaxy mergers, and core-collapse supernovae.