Dark Cosmology Centre > AGN meeting 2012

Collaborative "hands-on" Workshop:

Improving Black Hole Masses in AGN

Supermassive black holes are expected to reside in centers of all galaxies and to have a significant influence on the formation and evolution of each galaxy and galaxy group or cluster.  Black hole feedback is likely multifaceted and may solely be responsible for the properties of some objects, such as elliptical galaxies and X-ray clusters.
The detailed physics of these feedback processes, while largely unknown, is an important piece of the puzzle connecting black hole demographics with the cosmic evolution of most mass structures in the Universe. The mass of the supermassive black hole is the crucial parameter underlying this issue.

Accurate black hole masses are vital for distinguishing between different theoretical models for the formation and growth of black holes and other mass structures in the early universe, for example. At present, we can determine the mass of supermassive black holes in nearby active galaxies with reverberation mapping to within a factor of about 3. With mass scaling relations more distant active black holes can be determined to within factors of about 3-4. To significantly advance our understanding of the role that black holes play for cosmic growth and evolution we need to improve the mass determination methods: reverberation mapping and mass scaling relations.

Workshop concept:
The aim of this workshop is for the invited participants to discuss the issues and the potential solutions, to identify the work and tests needed, and to actively contribute in a collaborative fashion to advance the field in this direction. Such tasks could include to run numerical simulations, run photo-ionization models, analyze observational data to perform certain tests, defining observing strategies, etc.  The workshop is structured around ample time for discussions and for working in 'Task Force'-groups.  It is our hope that by the end of the workshop we, as a group, have defined the work/tasks to be done (and by whom) in this new collaborative group.

The workshop  WIKI has the list of sub-topics that we foresee are to be addressed. As a participant, you are encouraged to contribute your thoughts and ideas ahead of the workshop. That will also help the SOC plan the workshop.