UConn Astronomy Seminar
“The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping Project Radius Luminosity Relation”
Gloria Fonseca Alvarez
Physics Department
University of Connecticut
Abstract: Results from a few decades of reverberation mapping (RM) studies have revealed a correlation between the radius of the broad-line emitting region and the continuum luminosity of active galactic nuclei. This "radius-luminosity" relation allows us to estimate black-hole masses across cosmic time, using single-epoch spectroscopy rather than long-term RM monitoring.
I will discuss results from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping project that differ significantly from the previously established radius-luminosity relation, introducing new challenges for single-epoch black hole masses.
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“Understanding Enigmatic Star Formation Activity in the Milky Way’s Galactic Center”
H. Perry Hatchfield
Physics Department
University of Connecticut
Abstract: The CMZoom Survey, a Submillimeter Array (SMA) large program, has produced a catalog of dense objects in the 1.3mm dust continuum, complete within all high (>10^23 N(H2)) column density clouds across the inner 300 pc of the Milky Way. This region, known as the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is well studied for its extreme densities, pressures, temperatures and turbulent forces relative to the Galactic disk, as well as a mysterious deficiency of star formation relative to its dense molecular gas content. To understand this deficiency, we are building a suite of hydrodynamic simulations with a consistent dynamical model for the CMZ, implemented with variable physics. By developing these simulations and observations together, we aim to compile a set of tools to better understand the relationship between dense gas and star formation across galactic environments.
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
2:00PM
Physics, Gant South Building, GS 119
For more information, contact: Anna Huang at anna.huang@uconn.edu