NRAO/Socorro Colloquium Series

David Merritt

Rochester Institute of Technology


Dynamics of Black Hole Nuclei


The structure of galactic nuclei reflects the presence of supermassive black holes in many ways. Single SMBHs act as sinks, destroying a mass in stars equal to their own mass in roughly one relaxation time and forcing nuclei to expand. Binary SMBHs displace roughly their combined mass in stars, creating low-density cores and hyper-velocity stars. Ejection of coalesced binary SMBHs via radiation recoil injects further energy into nuclei and creates the possibility of substantially displaced SMBHs. I will review these and related processes and discuss the observational implications.






September 28, 2007
11:00 am

Array Operations Center Auditorium

All NRAO employees are invited to attend via video, available in Charlottesville Room 230, Green Bank Room 137 and Tucson N525.

Local Host: Joan Wrobel